


Twisted Paradise - The 100

by ultraintrovertedgryffindor



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Angst, Bisexual Male Character, Blood and Torture, Eventual Romance, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Past Child Abuse, References to Depression, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:41:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 43
Words: 110,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26803081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultraintrovertedgryffindor/pseuds/ultraintrovertedgryffindor
Summary: This story is also on my Wattpad account (itswhateverman16), but I'm gonna post it here too cause why not.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Original Male Character(s), John Murphy (The 100)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	1. Pilot

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

In the year 2052, a series of nuclear bombs destroyed Earth, making it completely uninhabitable. The bombs caused all the space stations from different countries to come together to make the Ark; a place where the rest of humanity could survive in space until Earth became habitable again, but that would take a couple centuries.

Now 97 years later, the Ark has kept humans alive for generations and, for the most part, life for the citizens of the Ark seemed okay. Well, not all citizens. The Ark had very strict rules and policies, especially when it came to crimes. One of the rules was that a couple could only have 1 child so the Ark doesn't overpopulate. Anyone who commits a crime, even as small as theft, will be floated; a term meaning that a felon will get shot into space. But there were exceptions for minors. If anyone under 18 commits a crime, they get taken to a place called the Sky Box. Once they turn 18, they get reviewed to see if the crime they committed can be overlooked or not.

Unfortunately, a girl named Spencer Rolfe had found herself caught in this position. Spencer had been in the Sky Box for 3 days. If she hadn't marked on the walls of her cell how many days she'd been there, she was sure that the days would've blurred together. Spencer was worried. She had just turned 17 when she got arrested, so she wasn't close to getting reviewed for her crime, but she had overheard the guards talking about the council reviewing her early. So, her being worried is justified.

When Spencer committed her crime, the last thing on her mind was getting floated. She had almost accepted death with open arms, but waiting for death in a tiny cell made her have some doubts.

Spencer was sitting against her small, lumpy mattress, staring at the ceiling. Thinking about what it would be like to die in space. Would she freeze to death? Suffocate? Will anyone miss her? _Probably no_ t, she thought. She was alone. Only one person cared about her, but after he hears about what she did, he probably wouldn't anymore. A single salty tear ran down her pale face when her cell door opened. The sudden jolt of the door made her flinch. She quickly wiped her tear and stood up.

Three guards then entered, one with a silver briefcase. "Prisoner 326, up against the wall."

Spencer's heart started racing, she felt like it was going to beat out of her chest, but she complied and faced the wall. She heard the click of the briefcase opening and the footsteps that started towards her. Everything felt like it was in slow-motion, until she heard a click and felt small needles prick her wrist. She hissed and looked down to see a silver wristband around it.

"What's this for?" Spencer asked.

The guard ignored her question and roughly grabbed her arm and led her out of the cell. Spencer was shocked to see every kid in the Sky Box was being taken out of their cells, all wearing the same wristbands as her. _They can't be floating every one of us!_

Spencer started panicking about what was going on. "What's going on?" Spencer voiced her thoughts and started pulling away from the guard.

The guard tried to keep her in his grip but she was struggling too much, so he punched her in the stomach, knocked all the breath out of her. Spencer coughed profusely and wished she had more muscle. "Try anything again, and I won't hesitate to knock you out. Understand?" The guard shouted.

Spencer couldn't talk, so she nodded her head quickly. The guard proceeded to drag her across the Ark halls, following a long line of kids; Spencer being the only one that had a personal escort. Eventually, Spencer saw where she was going. A ship. A dropship. Spencer's eyes widened with concern, but she knew he she tried to get away, the guard would knock her out and she had nowhere to run anyway. The guard took her into the dropship and sat her down in an uncomfortable seat with red buckles.

Spencer grabbed the guard's arm. "Please, tell me what's happening!" She begged.

"You're going to Earth. You'll die a more painful death there, and that's what you deserve."

Earth. Spencer was going to Earth, a radiation filled death trap. Suddenly, Spencer felt that death by floating seemed more painless than being burned by radiation.

"Spencer?"

Spencer recognized that voice, and she almost teared up from all the memories that came flooding to the surface. Spencer was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice him. She looked beside her to see her childhood friend, no, best friend.

"Finn?"

Finn grinned when Spencer recognized him. Once upon a time, they were inseparable, basically siblings. They always used to play together, then Finn seemed to forget about her and ditched her for someone else when they hit their tweens.

"Long time no see. I thought you forgot about me." Spencer said.

"Aw, who forget you, Spencer?" Finn smiled.

"It seems like you did for awhile." Finn's smile went away. "I'm just messing with you." Spencer smiled, although she was still hurt by him. Plus, she didn't want her last possible interaction with Finn to be spiteful. "I can't believe you got arrested for an illegal spacewalk. You were always a goodie two shoes."

"I can't believe you got arrested either. When I heard about what you did, I thought you were a completely different person." Finn paused, "Are you? Still the same person?"

Before Spencer could respond, the ship launched and made the ship shake. Spencer gripped tightly onto the buckles that were keeping her from falling out of her seat, as well as trying to keep her breathing steady. The shaking of the ship ceased a little when the ship was just floating towards Earth.

The TV screen started to light up, causing everyone to turn their attention in that direction. The Chancellor, Thelonious Jaha, appeared on the screen and making some kids groan in disgust, as he wasn't very popular.

Spencer was startled to see Finn start to unbuckle his buckles and floated out of his seat with a big smile on his smile. "Finn! What the actual hell are you doing? Are you trying to die?" Spencer asked, bewildered that Finn was that dumb.

"Relax, Shorty! I've done this before, remember?" Finn teased, calling Spencer the nickname he gave her a long time ago. Finn had a growth spurt before Spencer did.

Kids started cheering Finn on, with two other boys copying his idiotic behavior. Worried for his well-being, Spencer continued watching Finn, until a girl started yelling at him for being out his seat. Clarke Griffin.

Spencer recognized Clarke's thick blonde hair. Spencer remembers both their mothers being friends when they were toddlers, and they were forced to spend time together. Even then, Spencer thought Clarke was kind of annoying.

Spencer returned her attention to the Chancellor, and him talking about how that it was imperative that they find this place called Mount Weather or they wouldn't survive was not helping Spencer's stress level.

The dropship suddenly jerked and Finn, along with the other two boys, crashed down to the floor and the kids were now heading down into a radioactive planet.

It seemed that Spencer blacked out, as she couldn't recall the landing. Maybe it was for the best. Everyone started to unbuckle out of their seats, so Spencer followed suit. She hurried over to where Finn was, and he was kneeling beside one of the boys that followed him out of his seat. Clarke checked both of the boys' pulses. Clarke frowned and shook her head. Finn felt guilty, but Spencer put her hand on his shoulder, to try to comfort him. All Spencer got in return was a sad smile.

Clarke quickly rushed down a ladder when they heard someone shout about the dropship door being on the lower level. Finn and Spencer quickly followed behind. They both made their way down the ladder to see a boy, in a guard's uniform, already opening the door.

Spencer braced herself for what she might see, or feel. She always imagined what Earth would look like. She imagined Earth to be burnt to a crisp. Any trees would be on fire, leafless or burned to the ground. Oceans would be dried up and barren, holding nothing. Anything living would be nothing but ash and fire.

Spencer never expected this.

Hundreds of miles of green. Trees so tall, they could almost touch the sky. The sounds of birds chirping. And wind, actual wind blowing through the dropship. She could almost taste the freshness of the air filling her lungs.

Octavia Blake, who most people knew her as the girl under the floor, slowly made her way down the dropship ramp. Everyone watched in awe and anticipation as she took the first step onto the forest floor. The first human to ever step foot on actual ground in 97 years.

Octavia took a deep breath and yelled, "We're back bitches!"

Those three words was the motivation to all the delinquents running off the dropship, cheering and celebrating being on the ground.

Spencer slowly walked down the ramp and took in all the forest's features. She took in a deep breath. _Fresh air._ She grinned and took off in a sprint, getting as far away from the dropship before she ran out of breath. She felt free. Spencer was far, but not far enough that she couldn't find her way back. She could hear the distant cheers of her fellow inmates. Spencer was looking over a cliff, seeing the forest and mountains that seemed to go on forever.

Spencer felt at peace for the first time in years, before a certain someone tackled her. "God, dude, you scared me!" Spencer yelled at Finn who was laughing hysterically. "Oh, shut up, asshole."

"Aw, I'm sorry, Shorty. I didn't think it would scare you that bad. I just wanted to see if there was a human being still in there." Finn said as he poked her shoulder.

"Look, Finn, I'm still human. What I did on the Ark didn't change that."

"It's hard to believe sometimes, Spence." Finn frowned.

Spencer scoffed. She'd had enough. She walked away from him, shoving his shoulder in the process. Finn sighed. _Finn and I might've been best friends, but he doesn't know me anymore. He doesn't know why I changed_ , Spencer thought.

Spencer made her way back to the dropship, and kids were celebrating. Spencer noticed the man with the guard's uniform, thinking that he doesn't look like one. Apparently, Octavia was his sister. _He must've done something to get on the dropship. I wonder what it was?_

Later on, Spencer saw Clarke looking over a map with...Wells. _What the hell was the Chancellor's son doing here?_ Spencer was curious as to what they were doing, but she didn't want to talk to Clarke. And she knew Wells was already getting on people's nerves and she didn't want to get in a fight, on her first day at least. She didn't want to get caught in a fight when someone eventually decides they want to shut him up, which someone did.

A boy that she recognized as John Murphy wanted to pick a fight with Wells. But before anything got too serious, Finn decided to play superhero and jumped in between them and stopped the fight.

Octavia walked up to Finn and flirtatiously said, "Hey, Spacewalker, rescue me next." Spencer rolled her eyes, _Octavia's definitely not his type._

Octavia's brother pulled her away and started arguing with her. Spencer might've eavesdropped a little, she thought the conversation was definitely suspicious. After talking with Octavia, her brother caught Spencer staring and gave her a harsh glare which she returned with a suspicious one.

Suddenly, Spencer was pulled by the back of her jacket collar. "5 of us! Can we go now?" Finn asked.

"Hold on, what?" Spencer asked, completely oblivious to what was happening.

"Sounds like a party! Make it 6." Octavia joined in, immediately scolding by her brother.

"What the hell are you doing?" Her brother asked.

"Going for a walk."

"Uh hello? What the hell is going on?" Spencer asked, getting more annoyed that everyone was ignoring her and still confused.

"Hey, were you trying to take this off?" Clarke asked Finn, grabbing his wrist.

"Yeah, so?" Finn replied.

Clarke then explained why they had to keep the wristbands on. The wristbands track their vitals, to let the people on the Ark know if they're still alive. If they were to take the wristbands off, the citizens of the Ark wouldn't follow them down if they think they're dying.

Spencer watched Octavia's brother expressions, and she could almost see the cogs turning in his head.

Then they started walking into the woods and Spencer still had no idea what was going on. She pulled Finn's collar back and stopped him. "Ow! What the hell?" Finn whined.

"What the hell is going on? What did you drag me into?" Spencer asked.

"Oh, we're going to Mount Weather." Finn said with enthusiasm. Spencer gave him a cold glare. "Ugh, you know what? Fine. Stay here." He said and then ran to catch up with Clarke and the others who were going.

Spencer started to walk around the drop site to explore. But she came across a group of boys, one of them being Murphy, surrounding an area of the dropship, carving something into the side. It read, "First son, first to dye." Spencer chuckled, which startled the boys and turned around.

"What are you laughing at?" Murphy asked in a threatening way.

"You spelt die wrong, genius." She teased. Murphy felt his face heat up but glared at her. Spencer smiled, rolled her eyes, and walked away. As she was walking, Spencer got pulled by her arm and led away from the dropship. It was Octavia's brother. "Get the hell off me!" Spencer yelled and ripped her arm away.

"What did you hear?" He asked harshly.

"What are you talking about?" Spencer replied.

"Don't play dumb. I know you heard me and my sister's conversation."

"Maybe. Maybe not." He was not amused. His look almost intimidated her, but she held up her confident front. "Look, all I heard is that you did something to get on the dropship for your sister. Octavia, right?" He nodded. "Whatever you did, you did for your family. I can respect that."

He stared at Spencer for a moment before holding out his hand. "Bellamy."

Spencer shook his hand with a smile. "Spencer."

"Wait. Spencer...Rolfe?" Bellamy asked. Spencer nodded. Bellamy was caught off-guard for a moment and she noticed.

Spencer sighed. "You know who I am then?"

"Only by what you did."

"Scared of me now?"

Bellamy chuckled. "No. I don't scare easily. What you did was fucked up, but I guess you had your reasons. Just like everyone else." Bellamy said and walked away, leaving Spencer stunned.

 _No one's ever said that to me befor_ e, Spencer thought. Not many people know of Spencer's crime. The council wanted to keep it secret. Float her, and clean up the mess like it never happened. But those lucky few who knew, they would either be scared of her or hate her guts. But Bellamy didn't. Spencer thought he was crazy, but in truth, Bellamy knew how she felt. He wouldn't want anyone to judge what he did either.

By the time night fell, everyone basically turned into animals. The kids built a bonfire and had take-off-your-wristbands-that-is-important-to-your-survival party. Spencer thought it was stupid. She had no one and despised almost everyone on the Ark, but she also knew that they have doctors and farmers up there that were skilled enough to survive Earth.

_Making them think we're dying is going to ruin us all._

But of course, Wells had to express his opinion on the matter in usual Wells fashion. Spencer knew he meant well and she even agreed with, but he annoys people and causes more harm than good when he speaks.

Bellamy started preaching about how there would be no laws. Everyone started chanting, "Whatever the hell we want!"

She had to admit, the no laws thing is appealing but not the right way to go. If they had no laws then terrible stuff will start to happen, especially in a camp full of criminals. Spencer had no room to talk since she was a criminal herself, but she thought she could help Wells. But before she could speak, everyone heard a clap of thunder and it started to rain.

Everyone cheered and started to dance around in the rain. Spencer grinned and held out her tongue to catch the raindrops. She started to remember an old song her mother taught her when she was little about rain. She was sad because she barely remembered the words since it was so long ago. But she was almost sure it had gumdrops in the lyrics, even though she had no idea what gumdrops were.

Spencer caught Wells saying something to Bellamy about collecting the rain water. Bellamy replied with, "Whatever the hell you want." Because of course he had to act like a dick.

Spencer sighed and walked up to Wells. "I'll help you."

Wells nodded in appreciation and started to walk off, with Spencer following behind, but not before she saw Bellamy give her a confused look which in turn made her confused. But she didn't think any more of it.

Wells and Spencer collected as much water as they could, not really talking. They were never really friends on the Ark, just the occasional pass and wave in the halls and in school, but never really talked.

"So, Wells. Why are you here? You were never one to get in trouble, like, ever." Spencer asked, breaking the silence between them.

"I came for Clarke. Once I found out that they were sending everyone down here, I felt like I needed to be here. So, I got myself arrested." Wells explained. "Spencer, is it true what they arrested you for? I never really heard a confirmation. My father never told me."

"It's probably best if I don't answer that."

Wells sighed. Spencer had given him his answer. "In school, you were always so kind. Never mean to anyone who didn't deserve it. What happened to you?"

"People change, Wells. Your dad was a part of why I changed." Spencer replied, she huffed and walked away.

Spencer couldn't sleep that night. The truth was that she was haunted by what she did. In the moment, she didn't regret it at all. She would've done it again. Probably still would. But when she started getting horrific nightmares is when she started to regret it.

It's because Spencer couldn't sleep, she heard Bellamy wake up Wells and take him into the woods. Spencer had a feeling whatever was going to happen, wasn't going to be good. So, she got up and followed them.

It took a couple minutes to catch up to them, but she did. Bellamy was cornering Wells, trying to make him take off his wristband. If Wells had wanted to take off his wristband willingly, then Spencer wouldn't have a problem with it. But since it wasn't, against her better judgment, she decided to intervene.

"Hey!" Spencer called out, getting their attention. "If Wells doesn't want to take off the wristband, then he has the right to keep it on."

Bellamy smirked. "And who's gonna stop me? You?"

"I can certainly try."

"Look Rolfe, just because you did some shit on the Ark doesn't make you invincible. You should just go back to the dropship princess. Maybe wait for me in my tent and we can...talk it out." He smirked.

Spencer got flustered a bit, but she stayed strong and stood in front of Wells ready to defend him if it came to it. When Bellamy saw she wasn't budging, he called out his goons. One of them being Murphy. "Look, I don't want to have to hurt you doll. Just go on back and let the men handle this." Murphy said.

Spencer hated the word doll, especially in the mocking way he said it and it sent an unwanted shiver up her spine and sparked a memory. But Spencer kept her stance and glared at Murphy.

"Fine, fuck it." Murphy said and came at her with his knife.

Spencer quickly dodged Murphy's swing and swiftly kicked him in the stomach. Two others tried to get the jump on her, but she was too fast. Perks of not being too big. One boy caught her off guard and kicked her leg out from underneath her, and another was pinning her down and trying to get her wristband off.

Spencer quickly kneed him in between his legs and he yelled in pain, and she was able to push him off. The others were in the process of trying to take Wells' wristband off, but she pulled Murphy by the collar of his jacket.

He turned and swung at Spencer, leaving a gash in her upper arm. Spencer didn't feel it at first, but she reached her hand to touch her arm and when she pulled it away, it was drenched in blood.

Murphy smirked, proud of him getting a hit on her. Spencer was about to attack Murphy again, but she got picked up and thrown over someone's shoulder. She quickly found that it was Bellamy's shoulder.

Spencer tried to fight out of his grasp, determined to get back to Wells, but he was stronger. "Jesus, Spencer, calm down!" Bellamy shouted. He then sat her against a tree.

Honestly, Spencer didn't really think whether or not a wristband came off was worth fighting over, but she was a stubborn bitch who didn't like bullies. Spencer just sat against the tree, feeling defeated and exhausted.

Bellamy looked her over, shook his head and sighed. "Come on, we have to clean that otherwise it'll get infected."

Spencer decided not to fight him. She was tired enough as it is, but she also knew he probably would've thrown her over his shoulder again if she showed any resistance.

Bellamy and Spencer arrived not that much later and he brought her into his tent. He sat her down in one of the chairs and he got a med kit. He grabbed a rag and wiped away the blood, then got peroxide and poured it onto the rag. Bellamy didn't waste any time warning her how much it'll sting and just dabbed away at her wound, making her hiss in pain for a split second. After that, he wrapped a bandage around her arm and tied a knot to hold it in place. "All done."

"Thanks." Spencer said bitterly.

Bellamy grabbed her non-injured arm as she was walking out of his tent. "Try not to get into any more fights, alright?"

"Why not? I thought I could do whatever the hell I want." Spencer smirked and raced out of the tent. _He thinks he can control me like one of his dogs, ha, not likely. He said no laws, so he can't tell me otherwise._

Spencer ran into Wells on the way back to where she tried to sleep. "Hey, Wells." She said. Wells was angry, and she could tell by the scowl on his face. She saw that his wristband was gone. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you more."

Wells sighed. "You tried. It's the thought that counts, right? It's more than anyone's done to help me down here." Wells said with a sad smile. "Sorry about your arm, but you should probably get some sleep while it's still dark out." He suggested and walked away.

Spencer sighed. _I can try, but no promises._

~~~~~~~~~~  
 **So, it begins...**


	2. Earth Skills

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

Spencer eventually got some sleep that night, but she found that every time she moved her arm would rub up against the ground and it always woke her up. She just gave up and stayed awake around the fifth time it happened, but hey, at least she tried.

When everyone else woke it was still almost as chaotic as the previous night. Spencer noticed Wells walking with some clothes in his arms. A pang of guilt washed over her, still upset that she wasn't strong enough to defend him.

"Those the clothes from the dead kids?" Spencer asked. Wells nodded. "Sorry you had to do that by yourself. I would've helped."

Spencer decided to walk with Wells; she had nothing better to do anyway. One of the boys from last night walked up to them and asked about the clothes Wells was carrying, and then tried to take them from him. "Hey, we share based off of need. Just like back home." Wells said.

"Well, to be fair, we aren't exactly home anymore." Spencer commented. Wells rolled his eyes at Spencer, but she just shrugged.

"She's right, you know. We're not on the Ark anymore. You still don't get that. Do you, Chancellor?" Bellamy said as he walked out of the dropship shirtless, then a girl walked out and kissed him. Spencer almost physically gagged.

"This is home now. Your father's rules no longer apply." Bellamy continued and grabbed a shirt from Wells, but Wells tried to take it back but the other boy stopped him. "Atom, hold up." Bellamy said to the boy, and then turned back to Wells. "You want the shirt back? Take it." He taunted.

Wells looked ready to punch Bellamy, but Spencer put her hand on his shoulder. "Let it go, Wells. He's not worth it." Spencer said, making direct eye contact with Bellamy who was smirking at her.

Wells decided to take Spencer's advice and threw the clothes on the ground, and a bunch of teens fought over them immediately. "Is this what you want? Chaos?" Wells asked Bellamy.

"What's wrong with a little chaos? Isn't that right Spencer?" Bellamy teased.

Spencer almost tensed up, but she was too busy being annoyed with Bellamy and narrowed her eyes at him. Then all of a sudden, a shrill scream was heard around the camp. They all ran in the direction of the scream and found Murphy holding a girl over a fire.

"Bellamy, check it out! We want the Ark to think the ground is killing us, right? Figure it'll look better if we suffer a little bit first." Murphy grinned.

Wells and Spencer both ran to the aid of the girl and shoved Murphy off of her. "You can stop this!" Wells directed at Bellamy.

"Stop this? I'm just getting started."

Murphy started to advance on Wells. "Wells, look out!" Spencer yelled, but it was already too late. Murphy had already gotten a hit on him. Everyone started chanting for them to fight, but Spencer couldn't let it continue.

Spencer was only two steps forward and Bellamy quickly gripped onto her arm tightly and didn't let her move. "What the hell, Bellamy? Let me go, you son of a bitch!"

"Let them handle this on their own. You try to stop this; you'll get yourself killed." Bellamy told Spencer.

 _He's right,_ Spencer thought. She sighed and nodded, feeling defeated yet again. _I should stay out of this. I really don't wanna get stabbed on my second day down here._ Yet Spencer still felt that she should intervene, but her determination for survival kept her static.

"Don't you see you can't control this?" Wells said when he temporarily put Murphy down. But Murphy grabbed his knife and got up.

"You're dead." Murphy seethed.

Spencer almost went to stop Murphy, but Bellamy stopped him, which made her exhale a breath of relief, until Bellamy opened his mouth. "Fair fight." Bellamy handed Wells a knife.

Spencer groaned. She hoped that Wells would walk away, but the dumbass took the knife. _This is so stupid,_ Spencer thought, shaking her head. Bellamy walked back over to her and lightly grabbed her arm. "I'm not gonna do anything, asshole." Spencer growled.

"Well, I don't trust you." Bellamy replied, making Spencer roll her eyes.

Murphy managed to cut Wells and yelled out, "This is for my father!" Murphy lunged at him but Wells quickly maneuvered his way to where he was holding his knife to Murphy's throat. Wells tried to get Murphy to drop his knife, but was interrupted by Clarke.

"Wells! Let him go!" Clarke demanded. Spencer scoffed, _this bitch, Wells didn't even do anything wrong._ Wells pushed Murphy to the ground, but Murphy tried to get back at Wells but Bellamy stopped him.

Then Bellamy noticed his sister was injured and ran to her. "Where's the food?" Bellamy asked the group that had returned, empty handed.

"We didn't make it to Mount Weather." Finn sighed.

"What the hell happened out there?"

"We were attacked." Clarke said.

"Uh, attacked? What do you mean attacked, by what? Animals?" Spencer asked.

"Not what, who. It turns out, when the last man from the ground died on the Ark, he wasn't the last grounder." Finn said.

"It's true. Everything we thought we knew about the ground is wrong. There are people here. Survivors. The good news is, that means we can survive. Radiation won't kill us." Clarke announced.

"Yeah, the bad news is the Grounders will." Finn replied.

Spencer was shocked, as was everyone else. They never expected this to happen. This wasn't supposed to happen. "Wait, where's the kid with the goggles?" Wells voiced.

"Jasper was hit. They took him." Clarke replied. "Wait, where's your wristband?" She asked Wells.

"Ask him." Wells said, looking straight at Bellamy.

"How many?" Clarke glared.

"24 and counting." Murphy smirked. Spencer rolled her eyes; this kid was really getting on her nerves.

"You idiots!"

"Agree with you there." Spencer mumbled.

"Life support on the Ark is failing! That's why they sent us down here. They need to know the ground is survivable again, and we need their help against whoever is out there. If you take off your wristbands, you're not just killing them. You're killing us." Clarke ranted.

"We're stronger than you think!" Bellamy started. _Come on, is he really trying to go against what Clarke says?_ "Don't listen to her!" _Ugh, he is. What an idiot._ "She's one of the privileged. If they come down, she'll have it good. How many of you can say the same? We can take care of ourselves. That wristband on your arm? It makes you a prisoner. We are not prisoners anymore! They say they'll forgive you of your crimes. I say, you're not criminals! You're fighters, survivors! The Grounders should worry about us!"

Clarke shook her head and walked off. Finn motioned Spencer to follow him. She had nothing better to do, so she followed. She also didn't want to hear anymore of Bellamy's bullshit. They all walked into the dropship. "Hey, you ready?" Clarke asked Finn.

"I'm not going anywhere, and neither should any of you. That spear was thrown with pinpoint accuracy from 300 feet." Finn replied.

"So, what, we just let Jasper die?" Monty, Jasper's best friend, asked.

"That's not going to happen." Clarke said. "Spacewalker? What a joke. You think you're such an adventurer, but you're really just a coward." Then Clarke turned to Spencer. "You, are you coming?"

"Yeah, sure." Spencer replied. Finn looked at her with a shocked expression.

"It's not an adventure, guys, it's a suicide mission." Finn said. Clarke shrugged and walked out of the dropship, with Spencer following behind.

"Clarke. Bellamy has a gun, and as much as I dislike him, we should probably bring him along." Spencer suggested.

"Good idea. What's your name? You look familiar, but I can't quite place it."

"Uh, Spencer." She said cautiously. Clarke didn't seem to remember her, though, that might've been a good thing. _I think everyone would be more cautious of me if they knew what I did._ So far, Spencer knew that Finn, Bellamy, and Wells know. _Hopefully, no one else will find out._

The two girls walked up to Bellamy as he was cleaning Octavia's wound. "You could have been killed, O."

"She would have been if Jasper didn't jump in to pull her out of that river." Clarke added.

"You guys leaving? I'm coming too." Octavia said.

"No, no, not again." Bellamy said.

"He's right. Your leg's just going to slow us down. I'm here for you." Clarke said to Bellamy. "I hear you have a gun." Bellamy pulled up his shirt to reveal the gun in the waistband of his pants. "Good. Follow me."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because you want them to follow you, and right now, they're only thinking one of us is scared." Clarke said. Clarke knew she had him convinced so they all walked into the woods in search of Jasper.

"Those guys aren't just bullies, Clarke, they're dangerous criminals." Wells said.

"I'm counting on it."

"Come on, Wells, if they try to bully you, I'll be there to stop them." Spencer smiled.

"I'm talking about you too."

"Well, damn dude. I'm not a bully." Spencer pouted. _Well, that was kinda harsh._ Spencer looked behind her and saw Bellamy and Murphy were following. _I wasn't expecting Murphy. Great, one more douchebag._

"Hey, hold up. What's the rush? No one survives a spear through the heart." Bellamy said, waving his gun around.

"Put the gun down, Bellamy!" Wells said, trying to be intimidating but failing miserably.

"Why don't you do something about it, huh?" Murphy said and pushed Wells, but Spencer was quick to do that same to him.

"Knock it off." Spencer said to Murphy, them both glaring at each other.

"Jasper screamed when they moved him. If the spear struck his heart, he'd have died instantly. Doesn't mean we have time to waste." Clarke said.

"As soon as you guys take these wristbands off, we can go." Bellamy said, grabbing Spencer and Clarke's wrists.

Spencer immediately shoved him off. "Back off. I'm not taking this thing off; you'll have to kill me before I do." Spencer threatened.

Clarke nodded at what Spencer said. "The only way the Ark is going to think I'm dead is if I'm dead. Got it?"

"Brave princesses." Bellamy smirked.

"Hey, why don't you find your own nickname?" Finn said and came out of nowhere. "You call this a rescue party? Got to split up, cover more ground. Clarke, come with me."

Spencer was confused why Finn didn't ask her to go with him too. _He probably thinks I can handle myself, I can, but it hurts that he chose Clarke over his childhood best friend. Seems to be a pattern with him._

Bellamy started up a conversation with Wells, Spencer didn't know about what but it seemed safe enough to walk ahead and she walked a little in front of Murphy. "So, is Wells your boyfriend?" Murphy asked Spencer.

"No. Not in a million years would that happen." She laughed.

"Well, it seems like you're very protective of him."

"I just don't like bullies. He just so happens to keep being the victim."

Murphy suddenly got in front of Spencer and locked his blue eyes with hers. "Yeah, well, next time you stand up for him or get in my way, it won't just be your arm I cut open. And Bellamy won't be there to save you." He threatened.

"I look forward to it." Spencer smirked, which pissed him off. "You sure love to glare don't you?" She teased. _Hmm, his eyes are pretty._

"Guys, we found something!" The group heard Finn yell. They all ran in their direction. They had found Jasper's blood and goggles, and started heading in that direction.

"Hey, how do we know this is the right way." Murphy asked.

"We don't. Spacewalker thinks he's a tracker." Bellamy said mockingly.

"It's called cutting sign. Fourth year Earth skills. He's good." Wells said.

"You want to keep it down or should I paint a target on your backs?" Finn shushed them.

"It seems like I already do." Spencer mumbled to herself, oblivious to the fact that Murphy had heard her and chuckled softly.

Finn and Clarke found more of Jasper's blood. "See? You're invisible." Spencer heard Bellamy tell Wells. She realized what they were talking about earlier. She had a feeling that Wells had feelings for Clarke. Why else would he risk his life for her? Bellamy didn't have to be such a downer. Then they all heard a painful moan. _That must be Jasper._

"What the hell was that?" Murphy asked.

"Now would be a good time to take out that gun." Clarke said to Bellamy. They all quickly went in the direction of the noise.

"Oh my god." Spencer gasped. Her feeling was correct. Jasper was tied up to a tree. He looked terrible, but that must happen when you getting a spear in the chest. Clarke started running towards him, not looking where she was going.

Suddenly, the ground caved in and Clarke almost fell into a pit of wooden spikes before Bellamy caught her. But since Bellamy was hesitating about pulling her up, Spencer ran over and helped Clarke up.

After they helped Clarke, Spencer stared up at Bellamy. _Was he really going to let Clarke go just so the Ark could think we were dying?_ Bellamy noticed Spencer staring; he could feel the disapproval by just looking at her.

Finn decided to climb up the tree to cut Jasper down, along with Murphy. "There's a poultice on his wound." Clarke said.

"Medicine? Why would they save him just to string him up?" Spencer said.

"Maybe what they're trying to catch likes it's dinner breathing." Bellamy thought out loud.

"Maybe what they're trying to catch is us." Finn added.

Hearing that made a shiver go up Spencer's spine. _Hopefully, this wasn't a trap._ But it seems that as soon as she thought that, they all heard growling.

"What the hell is that?" Murphy asked, yet again.

"Grounders?" Bellamy asked.

"Do Grounders growl like animals?" Spencer asked. Then a large, black, catlike creature emerged from the forest. "Oh shi- " Spencer said before it went charged at them.

"Bellamy, gun!" Clarke yelled desperately.

Bellamy reached for his gun only to find it wasn't there. Without Bellamy knowing, Wells had taken his gun. So, Wells started shooting at the cat, not killing it in time before it clawed Spencer's arm.

Spencer yelled out in pain and fell to the ground. Finn's heart started pounding and called out to Spencer, worried about his friend. The cat disappeared in the thick bushes, hiding from their sight.

Bellamy quickly ran over to Spencer, but before he made it, the large cat jumped at him. But Wells finally put a couple more bullets into it, killing the creature. "Now she sees you." Bellamy told Wells, annoyed.

Spencer looked down at her arm. It was bleeding so heavily she could barely make out the four large, deep claws marks in her skin. Spencer wished her reflexes kicked in and dodged the cat, but nope, she held up her arms to shield herself. Probably making the claws go deeper in the process. _Well, now I have two injures. 5 marks in total. So much for not getting seriously injured on my first week on the ground._ "Spencer, are you okay?" Bellamy asked with a concerned look on his face.

"Fine and dandy. Just got attacked by a giant cat. No big deal." Spencer said, trying to make the situation better. Even though Jasper was dying. Bellamy gave an exasperated chuckle and rolled his eyes.

"Clarke, get over here." Bellamy called out.

Clarke rushed over to them and started to inspect Spencer's wound. She couldn't do much here, so she just ripped up pieces of cloth and wrapped a makeshift bandage over her arm. "I'll look at it better and treat it when we get back." Clarke said.

She helped Spencer off the ground and almost walked away, but Spencer grabbed her wrist. "Thank you, Clarke." Spencer said, genuinely. Clarke gave her a soft smile and went to help Jasper. Spencer still thought Clarke was annoying, but she was starting to come around.

Finn and Wells helped carry Jasper, and Bellamy and Murphy carried the large cat. Spencer felt bad about not helping them carry Jasper, or even the cat. But Clarke would be damned if she let Spencer help with an injury, and when she tried, Clarke scolded her like a mother would scold a child for doing something wrong. _Clarke is definitely her mother's daughter,_ Spencer smiled.

As they were walking, Spencer noticed Murphy stealing glances at her. He almost seemed worried about her, which was weird since he made it pretty clear he didn't like her.

The next time he looked at her, Spencer stuck her tongue out at him. Murphy rolled his eyes and looked away, and unbeknownst to her, he was trying not to smile.

After a couple hours of walking, the group finally made it back to their camp a few minutes after it got dark. Wells, Finn, and Clarke all rushed into the dropship to help Jasper, including a few others.

Bellamy and Murphy had proud smirks on their faces and sat down the dead creature. "Who's hungry?" Bellamy yelled, like he was the one that killed the animal when it was actually Wells. But everyone cheered.

They started cooking the meat and only gave out the food to the kids who'd take off their wristbands. Spencer scoffed, _no way I'm taking off my wristband just for a piece of meat. No way in hell._

Finn soon came out of the dropship and stood next to Spencer. "Thought you were afraid of me." Spencer said bitterly.

"So far, you seem the same to me. So, can we just drop it, please? Just because of what you did on the Ark doesn't mean I stopped caring about you, Shorty." Finn said.

"Friends again?"

"Of course." Finn smiled and hugged her. "So, they're giving out food for the people only without wristbands huh? That's sick."

Clarke came out and walked to Finn and Spencer. "Jasper's stable for now, but without medicine..." She paused and looked towards the group. "They're taking off their wristbands for food? No way. I won't do it."

"You don't have to." Finn said, and walked up to the fire and grabbed two sticks with meat on them.

"Woah, wait." Murphy said. "You think you play by different rules?"

"I thought there were no rules?" Finn asked, leaving Murphy shocked and pissed off. Clarke and Finn walked off together, leaving Spencer behind. _Wow, Finn, didn't think to get your friend some food? Whatever._

Spencer decided to sit on the ramp, watching the foolish teens take off their wristbands. Murphy looked over at Spencer, who was looking over at Finn and Clarke laughing and eating the food he stole.

Murphy felt guilty. Spencer felt someone staring and made eye contact with Murphy. She saw Murphy take an inhale of breath before he grabbed a stick of meat and walked over to her. "Might as well know what the animal that almost killed you tastes like." Murphy said, handing her the stick.

"You're not gonna force me to take off my wristband? Won't your master get mad?" Spencer teased.

Murphy bit his lip and chuckled. "Just take it before I change my mind."

Spencer smiled and took the stick, already feeling her mouth water in anticipation for an actual meal that she's been deprived of for 3 days. "Thank you, Murphy." Murphy nodded and went back to the campfire slowly, knowing that Bellamy was going to chew him out later.

Spencer took a big bite out of the animal meat. She never thought she'd be so happy to eat an almost burnt, plain, bitter tasting piece of the animal meat. Yet she was. After finishing her meal, she looked down at her arm. Blood has already been bleeding through, so she forced herself to go talk to Clarke.

Spencer was awkward walking up to Clarke and Finn, like she was interrupting a date. "Hey, Clarke. You said you'd take a look at my arm." Spencer said, shaking her arm a little, which made the wounds sting. _Ugh, why'd I do that._

"Oh right! Sorry, I was just so caught up with Jasper. Come on." Clarke grabbed her wrist and led her inside the dropship, setting Spencer down in a chair. She removed the blood soaked bandage from Spencer's left arm. Spencer felt like she was ripping off duct tape from all the blood, then Clarke started cleaning it, which also hurt like a bitch.

"What's that from?" Clarke asked.

Spencer looked where Clarke was looking. A long, thin, jagged, dark red line on her upper arm. "Oh, uh, Murphy cut me yesterday."

"Of course he did. Well, good news is that it's already healing. But um, your new wounds however, are pretty deep. I'll have to stitch them up."

Spencer gulped. "Well, better than bleeding to death I suppose."

Clarke chuckled. "I'm not too sure you'd bleed to death. You'd just get an infection quicker without stitches."

"Well, then stitch me up doc."

Clarke quickly got the needle and thread needed. Clarke heated up the tip of the needle and walked back over to Spencer. "Okay, I don't know how well you are with pain, but it kinda seems that you have a decently high pain tolerance."

"Ha, I don't know about that. I just don't complain all the time."

"Well, in any case, this'll hurt since we don't have numbing meds."

"God, just get it over with Clarke!" And as soon as Spencer said that, Clarke stuck the needle in Spencer's flesh, making Spencer cry out. "Oh, wow! That fricking sucks..."

From outside, Bellamy and Murphy heard a muffled cry from inside the dropship. They both looked at each other and decided to investigate. They both walked into the dropship to see Clarke sticking a needle into Spencer over and over again.

Murphy grimaced. "What's going on?" Bellamy asked.

"What does it look like, Bellamy? Clarke's sewing up my animal wounds with a needle." Spencer blurted, clearly in pain.

"Just a few more seconds, Spencer, okay?" Clarke said. "Okay, all done."

"Man, you weren't kidding when you said it would hurt."

"Trust me, you'll thank me later." Clarke said, covering Spencer's new stitches with clean cloth.

"I've already thanked you once, and I'll do it again." Spencer got up from the chair and turned to Clarke, "Thank you." Spencer gave Clarke a smile and walked out of the dropship.

"Hey, Spencer!" A voice called out. Spencer turned around to see Murphy jogging to catch up with her. She slowed down so he could walk beside her. "Hey, uh, how's your arm?"

"Well, it almost got clawed off by a giant cat and then had to get it stitched up. So, yeah, it's fine." She said answered sarcastically.

Murphy sighed. "I was trying to be nice."

Spencer furrowed her eyebrows. "Why? Didn't you say you wanted to kill me?"

"Now, now, I said if you get in my way. I'd kill you. I never said I wanted to." Murphy smirked.

Spencer finally made it to her special tree where she attempted to sleep, and sat down against it, along with Murphy. He started looked around awkwardly. "This is where you sleep?"

"Yup."

"But, it's cold out. Don't you have a tent?"

"Never got one, and nobody's too eager to share one." She chuckled. Murphy sighed and got up, holding out his hand. "What are you doing?"

"Come on, you're sleeping in my tent." He said, still holding out his hand.

"Uh, are you sure?"

"Spencer, if I wasn't sure, don't you think I would've left you out here by now? Come on, if you stay out here, that arm is more likely to get infected." Murphy said, starting to get annoyed.

Spencer reluctantly took his hand and he helped her up, and they started walking to his tent. The tent wasn't big, but it wasn't small enough to make someone feel claustrophobic. There were two small cots, one on each side of the tent.

"Which one?" Spencer asked, pointing at each of the little beds. Murphy pointed to the one on the left side. Spencer went over and laid down. _It's definitely more comfortable than the ground._ "Try not to kill me in my sleep, okay?" She teased.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Soon after, Spencer started to relax and drifted off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~


	3. Earth Kills

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

 _I'm in my home in space. I never wanted to come back here, ever. I thought I was on Earth. What the hell is going on?_ A dark laugh echoed through the room. Spencer looked to her side to see her father in his rocking chair, drinking the same liquor he always used to.

"Surprised to see me, doll?" Spencer heard her father say, but Murphy's voice mixing with his voice as he said doll.

Spencer squeezed her eyes shut. _No. No, it can't be. He's dead...He's dead... "_ You killed me."

When Spencer opened her eyes, she was sitting right in front of her father. She could hear the sound of her own heart beating, and close enough to smell the whiskey coming his breath.

"Nothing you didn't deserve." Spencer told him, her voice echoing the room.

"Nothing I didn't deserve?!" His voice boomed. "You cut me up into little pieces. Tortured me for your own sick pleasure! No one deserves that."

_You hurt me. Mom. You deserved worse._

"I wonder what your little friends think about it, what they actually think about it. Finn probably hates you. Alex didn't even try to visit you when you were locked up."

_Shut up._

"They must be so disappointed. I wonder what mom would think."

_SHUT UP!_

Spencer's father just stared at her, eyes full of hatred and disgust. Suddenly, he threw his whiskey bottle and the smash filled the room. He charged at her with a bloody scalpel.

"No!"

Spencer gasped and bolted upright, a cold sweat covering her forehead. _Another nightmare,_ she sighed. "You okay?"

Murphy's voice made Spencer jump slightly. Murphy was sitting on his bed, sharping his knife and giving her confused look. "Yeah, just a nightmare." She replied, still feeling panicky.

"Ugh, you don't scream in your sleep, do you? Cause if you do, I'll have to kick you out." Spencer glared at him and he smirked. "I'm kidding." Spencer wasn't convinced. Murphy could tell she was still upset, and he sighed. "Do you want to talk about it?" He forced out.

"Well, it's not really something I like to discuss. So, no."

Murphy rolled his eyes, but was a little relieved he didn't have to pretend to care about some dream that she had.

Spencer looked down at her arm where the cat clawed her. The bleeding had stopped. She thought it looked okay, although the bandage was covering it. _Still hurts like a bitch though._ She also took a look at the cut given to her by Murphy. It was scabbed over, still a dark red color.

Murphy snuck a glance at her, seeing her inspecting her wounds, including the one he gave her. He kind of regretted doing that, but he told himself that she was still in his way that night. "You should get Clarke to check your arm." Murphy spoke up.

"I was planning on it." Spencer said and walked out of Murphy's tent.

Suddenly, Spencer felt sick and she quickly ran as far into the woods as she could before puking out her guts. She started crying. She really hated her dreams, and she wished there was an off button for them.

Spencer eventually calmed herself down and started walking towards the dropship. As soon as she walked through the dropship door, she heard Jasper's painful groans from the upper level of the ship. _That's where Clarke's got to be._ Spencer then climbed up the ladder as best she could with one arm. She entered the upper level and found Clarke with Monty and Jasper. "Hey, Clarke."

"Hey, I was about to go get some more water for Jasper. I'll check on your wound later, okay?" Clarke said and left Monty and Spencer. She decided to wait for Clarke and sat down beside Jasper.

"Spencer, right?" Monty asked. Spencer nodded. "I didn't thank you, for going to help Jasper. So, thanks."

Spencer chuckled at his awkwardness. "It was my pleasure. So, how is he?"

"Not good. He's in a lot of pain, as you could probably hear." Monty frowned, and went back to work on the wristbands he was using to try to contact the Ark.

_They seem really close. I envy their friendship. I've never been that close to anyone recently._

Clarke soon came back, along with Finn. "The Grounders cauterized the wound. Saved his life." Clarke said, looking over Jasper's wound.

"Saved his life so they could string him up for live bait." Finn said. "Garden of Eden this ain't."

"You've always been the optimist, Finn." Spencer said.

"This is infected. He could be septic." Clarke said worryingly. "Any progress on using the wristbands to contact the Ark?" She asked Monty, who was staring at his friend. "Monty." She said, trying to get an answer.

Monty sighed. "That would be a firm no."

Wells then climbed up the ladder and kneeled next to Clarke, who looked and definitely felt distressed. "My mother would know what to do." Clarke mumbled.

"How's he doing?" Wells asked.

"How does it look like he's doing, Wells?" Spencer asked, annoyed. _He has eyes, he can see just how well Jasper's doing._

"Hey, I'm just trying to help."

"Well, you can see for yourself. Asking questions you already know the answer to doesn't help."

"Alright, you want to help?" Clarke asked Wells. He nodded. "Hold him down. You help too." She said, looking at Finn and Spencer.

They all went over and held down Jasper. Spencer felt a pit in her stomach when she saw Clarke put a knife in a fire pit. _Welp, this'll suck._

"I'm not gonna like this, am I?" Monty asked, and everyone gave him sympathetic looks.

Clarke got the knife heated up. She looked over at the others and they nodded, signaling Clarke that they were prepared to keep Jasper down. As soon as the knife touched Jasper's wound, he started screaming in pain.

"Hold him still! I need to cut away the infected flesh." Clarke said. Eventually, Jasper was in so much pain, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and passed out.

"Stop it!" Octavia yelled, running over to us. "You're killing him!"

"She's trying to save his life." Finn told her.

"She can't." Bellamy said.

Spencer rolled her eyes when she heard his voice. _He doesn't know anything._ Wells got up and tried to stand up to Bellamy.

"Back off." Wells said, but Bellamy ignored him.

"We didn't drag him through the woods just to let him die." Clarke said.

"Kid's a goner." Bellamy said. "If you can't see that you're deluded. He's making people crazy."

"Sorry if Jasper is such an inconvenience to you, but this isn't the Ark. Down here, every life matters." Spencer spat.

Bellamy scoffed. "Oh, really? That didn't seem to be your mindset when you tortured and killed your own father."

Everyone tensed, especially Spencer, and she felt all eyes on her. Finn was pissed that Bellamy would give her away, and gave a Spencer a look of pity. Spencer felt tears prick her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away.

Bellamy continued, "Just take a look at him. He's a lost cause."

Octavia looked like she started to believe her big brother. "Octavia, I spent my whole life watching my mother heal people. If I say there's hope, there's hope." Clarke said.

"This isn't about hope, it's about guts. You don't have the guts to make the hard choices. I do. He's been like this for three days. If he's not better by tomorrow, I'll kill him myself."

Spencer had heard enough of him running his mouth. She got up and shoved Bellamy hard in the chest. "I don't know who told you that you run this place, but you don't get to decide who dies down here just because someone is annoying you. If you even try to lay a finger on Jasper, I'll kill YOU myself."

Bellamy was intimidated by her, and she knew. She swore she almost saw terror in his eyes, but he quickly replaced it with a glare and he walked back to the ladder.

"Octavia, let's go." Bellamy said.

"I'm staying here." Octavia said.

Spencer smirked at Bellamy, who looked at her with annoyance. Be he descended the ladder. Spencer smiled at Octavia, who returned the smile as well.

"Power-hungry, self-serving jackass. He doesn't care about anyone but himself." Monty said, which made Spencer laugh. Octavia frowned. "No offense." Monty quickly added.

"Yeah. Bellamy is all that, but he also happens to be right." Finn said, which made everyone in the room stare at him in shock.

Clarke sighed and went down the ladder, presumably outside the dropship. Finn and Spencer both followed her. When they found Clarke, she was sitting on the ground. "You're mad? Finn asked.

"I'm not mad. If you think Jasper is a lost cause, go ahead. But you're wrong."

_Well, no. She doesn't sound mad at all._

"I hope I'm wrong."

"Whatever this stuff is, it has to have antibiotic properties." She said, showing us what she had in her hand. _Huh, it kinda reminds me of seaweed I read about in school once._

"Let me take a look." Wells said. Clarke rolled her eyes. "Before you refuse my help, remember who aced botany in Earth skills." He took the plant from Clarke and examined it.

"The Grounders used it as a poultice. I'm thinking a tea would be even more effective, if we can figure out what it is."

"It looks like seaweed to me, but I could be wrong." Spencer chimed in.

"No, you're absolutely right. It's seaweed. Look, no root structure." Wells said. _Hell yeah, I'm smarter than I thought._

"Right. Well, then there must be a water source nearby." Clarke said.

"Yeah, it would have to have slow current, lots of rocks. The water would probably be more red than green."

"I know just the place." Finn smiled.

"Alright. Let's go." Clarke said. Finn, Spencer, and Clarke all started walking to where they knew the water source was.

"Hey, I know what this stuff looks like. Do you?" Wells called out.

"Well, it seems like Spencer knows." But somehow, Wells convinced her to let him tag along, even though they didn't really need him.

They were walking through the forest when Wells decided to speak up. "You know you should, uh, rethink this whole hating me thing. It's not just the Grounders. We're surrounded by criminals. We need each other. We're going to be friends again."

"You're down here, aren't you? That makes you a criminal. Same as the rest of us." Spencer said, getting annoyed with Wells.

"Yeah, well, I didn't do anything serious. Like..." Wells stopped.

"Don't be a pussy, Wells. Say it. You didn't do anything serious like I did." Spencer said angrily. Spencer slowed down so she could walk beside Finn, while Wells and Clarke kept up their conversation before she interrupted.

"You okay?" Finn asked Spencer.

"Peachy."

"I don't think he meant it. I think he just says whatever comes to mind. I wouldn't hold it against him."

"Whatever you say, Finn." Finn smiled and caught up to Clarke and Wells, with Spencer still trailing behind.

For a few minutes, Spencer just tried to calm herself and took in her surroundings. Trying to find peace in the scenery. But that ceased when Finn stopped in his tracks and kicked at the ground. It made a sound like there was something underneath.

"What is it?" Clarke asked.

Finn removed the dirt and grass that was covering what looked like a door of some sort. He opened the door and chuckled. "It's an automobile." Wells said in awe.

"Come on, guys. This thing's been here 100 years. Alright? It can wait. Jasper can't." Clarke said. _I agree with her, but damn, does she have to be so uptight?_ Finn sighed and closed the door and they continued walking.

Finn was still sad that they left the automobile. "Finn, I'm sure we'll find that piece of junk again. Stop pouting." Spencer chuckled.

"That's easy for you to say. You don't understand that guys love to obsess over automobiles."

"Finn, you've never even seen an automobile till just now. I knew you watched too many movies growing up." Spencer smiled.

"So, uh, how are you feeling?" Finn asked.

"You already asked me that."

"I wasn't asking about Wells."

"Do you mean my arm or what Bellamy said?" From the look on Finn's face, Spencer could tell he was asking about Bellamy. "You don't have to worry about me hurting him or whatever, if that's what you're thinking." Spencer sighed.

"Well, he did bring up a sore subject. I kind of thought you'd be more...angry, I guess." After a couple more minutes of walking, Finn spoke up again. "Why did you do it?"

"I don't wanna talk about it, Finn."

"Come on, Spencer. We used to be able to tell each other everything." Finn begged.

"Yeah, before you ditched me for Raven." Spencer said bitterly. Finn had a look of guilt on his face. _Damn that face,_ Spencer sighed. "How'd you even find out? It seemed like only Wells and Bellamy knew. It happened a few days before the Ark sent us down here. Word didn't spread around."

"Well, Raven visited me a lot in the Sky Box. She has her ways of knowing about things, and she told me about what you did." Spencer just nodded, but Finn stopped her. "Look, you don't have to tell me why right now. But if you ever need to talk about it, I'm here. I'll always be here, okay?"

Spencer could tell he meant every word. She nodded and he hugged her. "Guys, keep up!" Clarke yelled to them.

Finn and Spencer separated and jogged to catch up with Clarke and Wells. After walking a couple more miles, the group finally reached their destination. "So, what does this seaweed look like?" Clarke asked.

"Like that." Wells pointed at the red seaweed floating in the water. "Hey, that thing that bit Octavia, how big was it?"

"Big." Finn replied, and took out his backpack. "We could rig this into some kind of a net."

 _Ugh, we don't have time for this shit._ Spencer walked into the water while Finn was still explaining about his net idea and took out her knife and cut a chunk of the seaweed from the water.

Finn finally noticed Spencer in the water. "Or we could just do that." He chuckled. Spencer walked to Finn and stuffed the seaweed in his bag.

A bunch of birds came and swarmed the group. Spencer thought it was strange until she noticed a big yellow storm cloud rising into the air. Then they heard a creepy fog horn.

"Grounders?"

"It could be a war cry." Wells suggested.

"Yeah, or a warning. What the hell is that?" Spencer pointed out the yellow mist, that was coming for them at a rapid speed.

Clarke yelled at the others to run. The mist seemed to keep moving faster and faster, but they ran as fast as they could. Just barely out running the mist.

"Come on, run!" Finn called out to Spencer, who was just a hair behind them.

 _Man, I'm running as fast as I can!_ Spencer wanted to yell, but her lungs were on fire from running. The fog just barely touched her arm and it burned her and it felt like hell, but she was determined to keep running.

Finn came up upon that old car he found and hurried the others in. They all made it in the car and closed the door, but the fog started to seep in. "Seal any openings!" Finn yelled, and they all rushed to seal the openings and they were safe. For now.

Clarke, Finn, Wells, and Spencer were all sitting in the piece of junk car, waiting for the fog to pass. Spencer sitting next to Wells and Finn next to Clarke, but Finn decided to get up cleared the dust off one of the windows. "It's still out there."

"Look, we should just make a run for it. Jasper can't wait any longer." Clarke said.

"Us dying in a cloud of acid fog isn't gonna help Jasper."

"Agreed. The fog touched my arm and it hurt like hell." Spencer added. Spencer looked down at her arm and small boils were forming. _Well, that's lovely._

Finn noticed a small door in the car and opened it, and found a bottle inside. "Is that?"

"Booze." Finn smiled, and went back to sit next to Clarke. Finn opened the bottle and took a gulp.

"Well careful, Finn, it could be- "

"Whiskey, I think." Finn interrupted Clarke. "Better than the moonshine on Argo station."

"Hey, dude, don't hog it. Hand it over." Spencer told Finn. Finn smiled and handed over the bottle, and Spencer took a swig. "Ugh, it's disgusting. Love it." Spencer cringed and offered the bottle to Wells.

Wells backed away from the bottle, like it was poison. "Alcohol's toxic."

"This is Earth. Everything's toxic. Lighten up, dude."

"Plus, it's a time-honored rite of passage." Finn added.

"We'll pass." Wells said, suggesting that Clarke wasn't going to drink either.

"Well, fine then. Suit yourself, loser." Spencer chuckled and was about to take another sip until Clarke took it out of her hands. "Hey, I was drinking that!"

"Far be it from me to stand in the way of tradition." Clarke said and took a gulp from the bottle.

Wells looked offended, which Spencer chuckled at, and that earned her a glare from Wells. Spencer tried to shut up, but she had to suppress a few giggles. She could feel the whiskey kick in, since she's always been a lightweight.

_I remember the first time I got drunk. I was at my friend Alex's dorm and he had stolen some moonshine his dad had. We just hung out in his room, drank the whole bottle. It probably wasn't a good idea since we were drunken hormonal teenagers. But I was pretty responsible, so I stopped everything before too many articles of clothing came off._

Spencer smiled at the memory, she missed him. _I remember his dad caught us; his moonshine gone. He wasn't so uptight about it; he was one of the chill type of parents. But he did send me back to my dorm, drunk. Which wasn't so great for me cause my dad was home, drunk as well._

Spencer frowned and stopped drinking as the bad memories came back. She handed the bottle back to Clarke. Finn noticed Spencer's mood change and eyed her suspiciously, but Spencer just gave him a look telling him not to ask her about it.

Clarke seemed to be the only one drinking, apart from the occasional sip from Finn. "It's been hours." Clarke started. "Jasper- "

"Is in good hands." Finn cut Clarke off. "Octavia will take care of him."

"While we're on the subject, why is it that everyone thinks me wanting Jasper not to die is a bad thing? Like I'm such a downer. I can be fun. Yeah. You think I'm fun. Right?" Clarke slurred.

Spencer chuckled. "Yes, Clarke, you're fun."

"Oh, yeah. Among other things." Finn added, making Spencer laugh until Wells spoke up.

"You're fun." Wells said, trying so desperately to be in the conversation. "You remember the time- "

"Remember that time you betrayed me and got my father executed?" Clarke said. "Yeah, I remember." Spencer felt the tension, it made her want to walk through the long miles back to camp just to avoid this conversation. "Where were we? Fun. But since you brought it up, which I didn't because I don't want to talk about it. What were you thinking?"

Finn and Spencer gave each other concerned looks. _I don't think he wants to be a part of this either._ "I made a mistake, Clarke." Wells said.

Clarke scoffed. "I made a mistake, Clarke? Not good enough. You know, I bet you couldn't wait to run to daddy. Tell him everything, so that he'd finally believe you were the perfect son he always wanted."

"What do you want me to say?!" Wells snapped.

"I want an explanation."

Wells shook his head. "I can't give you one. I thought I could trust him."

"Well, I thought I could trust my best friend. Guess we were both wrong."

"I'm still your friend."

"No, you're not. If you were my friend, you'd walk into that fog and never come back." Clarke said and took another sip of the whiskey.

Spencer gently reached over and took the bottle from her. "Okay, how about we just...take it easy." Finn said, trying to defuse the situation.

"I have no idea how to do that."

Wells took the bottle from Spencer and took a large sip. "So, we having fun yet?" Finn asked. _Goddamn it, now's not the time._ Wells drank a little more and then handed it back to Spencer. "You guys should get some sleep. I have a feeling we're gonna be here awhile." Clarke and Wells were quick to fall asleep, but Spencer and Finn were awake. "Can't sleep either?" Spencer nodded. "But you must be tired."

"I don't really like sleeping." Spencer replied. Finn gestured her elaborate. "I, uh, I see what I did in my dreams...along with other things."

"Do you want to talk about it? Like, maybe why you did it in the first place?"

Spencer rolled her eyes. "You really want to know?" Finn nodded eagerly. "Fine." Spencer paused and took a deep breath before talking again.

"Around when I was 7, my father started drinking. Whenever he was drunk, which was almost all the time, he'd hurt my mom. My mom didn't report him cause after he'd hurt her, he'd always apologize and he'd buy her jewelry or something. And my mom being the really forgiving person she was, forgave him. Every single time. Until one day, they were fighting, I tried to stop it, and he hit me. That was the wake-up call she took and protected me. She broke his arm. My father went to the council and said she was abusive, saying she assaulted him."

A tear ran down Spencer's face. "She got floated." She let out a bitter laugh.

Finn was devastated. "So, that's why you always wanted to stay at my place." Spencer nodded. "So, that's why you did it?"

"It was one of the main reasons, yeah. But I don't feel like talking about it anymore." Finn nodded understandingly. "I think I'm going to try to get some sleep." Spencer closed her eyes and managed to sleep.

A few more hours later and fog finally cleared. Clarke was the one to open the door. "The fog's cleared. Come on." Clarke said. "Let's go. Jasper's waiting." She said when she thought they weren't moving fast enough.

As they were walking, Finn caught up with Spencer. "You okay?" He asked her.

"Yeah, and thanks for listening to me. Maybe now you got a better understanding of why I did it." Spencer replied.

"Yeah, totally. I would've killed him too. Probably not how you did, but like, I'd want him floated." Finn said.

Spencer chuckled and walked up to Clarke, who was walking way ahead of the group. Clarke turned to look at Spencer and sighed. "You alright, Clarke?"

"I have a headache."

Spencer chuckled. "Yeah, that happens when you get drunk."

"Ugh. I can't believe I let myself do that."

"Hey, it's alright."

"No, it's not!" Clarke interrupted. "Getting myself drunk wasn't okay. I should've been thinking of Jasper."

"Well, ever since we've been down here, all you've done is try to help us survive. And not many people have been exactly appreciative. I feel the stress radiating off of you. I'm not gonna hold it against you if you wanted to loosen up for a little bit."

Clarke smiled a little. "Thanks, Spencer."

After walking even more, Spencer's feet were so sore. She thought she's must've lost 40 pounds just by walking all the damn time. But Spencer's sore feet didn't stop her from running when she heard someone scream.

She ran towards the scream, along with Clarke, Wells, and Finn. But Spencer ran way ahead of Clarke and the others, and she found Bellamy and his crew. "Bellamy?"

"Spencer?" Bellamy was kneeling beside who Spencer thought was Atom, or at least what used to be Atom. Spencer walked towards him and kneeled down on the other side of Atom.

"What happened to him?" Spencer thought out loud. Atom had boils and burns all over his body and his eyes were almost white. "Acid fog?" Bellamy nodded. Atom was begging for someone to kill him.

Bellamy stood up and a little girl came up to Bellamy and gave him a knife. "Don't be afraid." The little girl said to Bellamy.

"Go back to camp. Charlotte, you too." Bellamy ordered his crew, and the little girl. They all went back to camp, and Bellamy kneeled beside Atom again.

Bellamy looked really upset, but he held the knife tightly in his hand. All Bellamy had to do was glace at Spencer, and she saw in his eyes that he was scared. Spencer could see he wasn't a killer; he couldn't kill Atom. Spencer didn't want to either, but she already had blood on her hands. She decided that she couldn't let Bellamy do it.

"You don't have to do this, Bellamy." Spencer said softly. She gently took the knife out of his hand and he gave her a grateful but worried look.

Suddenly, Clarke came and sat beside Spencer. Clarke looked over Atom and looked at Spencer and Bellamy and shook her head. There was no hope for Atom. "Okay..."

Clarke went over and kneeled next to Atom's head and started stroking his hair softly and hummed a soothing melody. She looked to Spencer and nodded. Spencer took a breath and pushed the knife into Atom's neck and he died almost instantly, with Clarke still humming the tune.

Bellamy and Wells were the ones to carry Atom back. Spencer was silent the entire way back. Finn looked back at Spencer with a worried expression. Spencer tried to smile a little so Finn wouldn't worry, but he didn't buy it.

When the group got back, Clarke and Finn were already racing to the dropship to help Jasper. Wells went to go dig a grave for Atom. Octavia ran up and Bellamy tried to stop her but it was too late. She saw Atom and started crying. Bellamy tried to explain but she took off.

Murphy came up to the group and smiled at Spencer a little before he started talking to Bellamy. "We lose anyone here?" Bellamy asked.

"No." Murphy replied.

"Jasper?"

"Still breathing. Barely. I tried to take him out but your psycho little sister- " Murphy didn't even get to finish his sentence before Bellamy shoved Murphy and got in his face.

"My what?! My what?!"

"Your little sister." Murphy replied, seeming unfazed and shoved Bellamy off.

"Yeah, that's right. My little sister. Got anything else you wanna say about her?"

"Nothing. Sorry." Murphy said, clearly not meaning it or showing any fear towards Bellamy.

Bellamy was still pissed off but ordered one of his guys to take Atom away. After that whole argument, Spencer tried to go near Murphy but he threw his knife and it landed deep into a tree near where Spencer was.

Murphy's eyes widened when he saw Spencer near where the knife was thrown. "I, uh, didn't see you there." He said, still angry at Bellamy.

Spencer shrugged. "It's okay." She said, not really meaning it but she didn't want to upset him even more. Spencer looked at his face and he looked like he was bleeding. "Well, it seems like you had a rough day."

Murphy chuckled. "Same goes for you. Who's, uh, blood is that?" He nodded down to her hands. Atom's blood was on them. Spencer sighed. "What happened?"

"Atom got caught in the fog. Messed him up really bad. I...I had to kill him." Spencer explained, feeling extremely guilty about it.

She kept staring at the blood on her hands. Atom's blood. Spencer started to feel like she couldn't breathe, like a heavy weight was on her chest. She could feel the tears starting to form in her eyes. _No, no, no. Not here._ "I, uh, have to go." Spencer said to Murphy and walked off. She wanted to go to the tent, but then remembered Murphy stays there too.

Spencer decided to go into the woods and have her panic attack there. Once she got far enough away from camp, she leaned her head against a tree and started crying and her head felt like it was getting hit with a hammer.

She couldn't breathe too well so her crying came out in constant hiccups. She tried to stop crying but it just caused more hiccups.

She looked at her hands, _blood._ Spencer panicked and tried every way to get the blood off. She tried wiping them on her jeans, but the blood was dried so it didn't work. She also tried rubbing the blood off on the tree but that just made it worse, mixing her own blood with Atom's.

Spencer suddenly felt a pair of warm arms around her. They pulled her away from the tree and sat her down, with their arms still wrapped around her. She couldn't tell who it was, her vision was blurring from her tears. They kept shushing her, trying to calm her down. It wasn't till they said something that she figured out who it was. "Shh, you're okay. You're okay."

_Murphy._

She didn't know why, but knowing that it was Murphy made her cry more. But he just rocked her back and forth in his arms until she calmed down.

To say that Spencer was embarrassed would be an understatement. Murphy finds a chick in the woods, crying hysterically and trying desperately to get blood off her hands. Spencer probably would've been hesitant, but Murphy wasn't.

Spencer sat up when she calmed down, a blush coming onto her face. Her face was already red and puffy from crying, so Murphy couldn't tell if she was blushing.

"You don't have to be embarrassed." _Well, I guess he can._ "We all have breakdowns once in a while. So, why were you having one?"

"I," Spencer's voice cracked. She cleared her throat before continuing, "I don't know. I kept looking at Atom's blood on my hands and I just felt like I couldn't breathe." She said, trying not to look at her hands.

"Well, let's get you cleaned up. So, it doesn't set you off again. I can only handle one crying girl per week, so come on." Murphy said, getting up and leading her to his tent.

He sat her down and grabbed a washcloth and soaked it in water. He started cleaning her hands, washing away the blood. Spencer stared at him with a curious look on her face. Murphy glanced up at her and sighed. "What?"

"Why are you being so nice to me? First you cut me, threatened to kill me, then you offer me a place to sleep, and now this."

"Do you want me to stop being nice to you?" Murphy asked, annoyed.

"No, I like being treated like a human being." She smiled.

"It's just, I don't know. You try to be nice to me. You're not a bitch to me all the time like..."

"Like everyone is to you?" Murphy nodded. "Well, you do annoy me from time to time, but it seems like a package deal with you." She chuckled.

"Well, now you're making me annoyed too." He smirked, and continued cleaning her hands. "Okay, all done. Your hands are blood free." He threw the cloth down on his table and sat down in another chair.

Spencer looked at her hands and they were indeed blood free, but they also had a couple cuts and scrapes on them. "Yeah, you must've done that when you were rubbing them on that tree."

Spencer blushed again. _That must've been quite the sight to see._ "Sorry you had to see that."

Murphy just shrugged. "We all have our bad days, plus I've seen worse."

Spencer chuckled. "Well, that's comforting."

Murphy shook his head and smiled. "So, uh, I'm guessing you've never killed someone before?"

Spencer shook her head. "No, I have. That's why I'm down here. I've just never killed someone who was innocent."

Murphy blinked; he wasn't really expecting that. "Who was it?"

"My father."

"Oh...can you tell me why?"

Spencer sighed. "I can, but I don't really want to. It's not that I don't trust you but, it's a long story and I'm exhausted."

"You trust me?" Murphy asked, with a look of shock on his face.

"I mean, I don't have any reason not to." She said. "What? You don't think you're trustworthy?"

"I don't know. Nobody's really trusted me before."

Spencer smiled. "Well, consider yourself trusted." Spencer went over and laid down on her little bed. For some reason, she felt the urge to ask him to lay with her, but she thought that would be too weird.

Murphy somehow sensed that Spencer wanted to ask him something. "What?" Murphy asked.

"Oh, uh, nothing." Spencer shook her head and rolled over to her side, facing away from him.

"Come on, Spence, what?"

Her brain made the decision to ask him, against her will. "Can you lay with me?" Spencer cringed at her choice of phrasing. She wanted to slap herself. She was scared because she couldn't see his reaction.

Spencer just assumed he ignored her request, until she felt movement from behind her. She rolled over and saw him already staring at her. She smiled softly and cuddled into him. Murphy tensed up and Spencer thought about moving, but he wrapped an arm around her and brought her closer. Spencer relaxed in his hold. He made her feel safe, a feeling she's never had with anyone. Other than...

"Thank you, Murphy." Spencer said, cutting off her thoughts as she drifted off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~


	4. Murphy's Law

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

Spencer awoke from feeling movement beside her. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that she was laying on Murphy. She saw that he was already awake. "Sorry I woke you." Murphy said.

"No, it's okay." Spencer sat up and yawned. "How long was I out?"

"Whole night. I think it's just starting to brighten up. You were crying in your sleep."

Spencer furrowed her eyebrows and saw that there was a damp spot on his shirt, she reached up to touch her face and felt that it was a little damp too. Spencer sighed, "Sorry."

"It's fine. Another nightmare?"

"I suppose, I can't really remember. Probably for the best."

Suddenly, Finn opened up the tent and saw Spencer and Murphy together. Finn was pissed off since he didn't like Murphy, but his news was too urgent to be petty. "Shorty, you need to come with me." Spencer was confused and raised an eyebrow. Finn sighed, "Please, I need to talk to you. It's important."

Spencer huffed. "Fine." She got up and walked out of the tent with Finn. On the way to the dropship, Finn had a worried look on his face, and it made Spencer nervous. Inside the dropship was a crying Clarke. "Woah, what's going on?"

"It's Wells." Clarke cried. "The Grounders killed him."

"W-what?"

"Some of our people found him outside of camp." Finn said.

Spencer couldn't believe it. Clarke rushed out of the dropship, Finn quickly following after her. Spencer sat down where Clarke was previously sitting. She was sad, and angry, even though she hadn't known him very long. She couldn't imagine how Clarke must be feeling, she was friends with Wells since they were children.

 _Wells deserved so much better._ Spencer started to tear up. _Nope, I can't let it get to me. I can't break down, not here at least._ Spencer got up and went back to her tent. She opened the flap to the tent, and she saw Murphy still there putting on his boots. _Damn it, I thought he'd be gone._

"Hey, what did Spacewalker want to talk about?"

 _Well, might as well tell him._ "Wells is dead...the Grounders killed him." Spencer started to tear up. _Ugh, no. I never truly knew Wells._ But before Spencer could wipe away the tears that escaped her eyes, Murphy saw.

He sighed and pulled her into a hug. "I won't deny that I hated him, but you obviously cared about him for some reason, so sorry that he got killed I guess." Murphy said awkwardly. Spencer nodded and gave him a grateful smile. "Uh, look, I have to get going. Have to work on the wall. Bellamy's orders." Murphy rolled his eyes.

When Murphy left, Spencer decided to check on Clarke. She walked into the dropship to find Monty taking off Clarke's wristband. "Clarke, what are you doing?"

"She's getting revenge on her mother." Finn answered.

"I'm also trying to help Monty contact the Ark." Clarke glared at Finn.

Monty got the wristband off Clarke. "Yes! I did it!" He looked up at Clarke. "It's still operational."

Clarke smiled. She walked over to Finn and Spencer, and Finn was giving her a look of disapproval. "What? Monty needed a working wristband."

"And you needed to punish your mother." Finn replied.

Clarke scoffed. "Look, they're running out of air, and we need their help. My mother thinking I'm dead is only temporary."

"Not if I can patch through the dropship mainframe." They all looked at Monty. "I can do it. We'll be talking to the Ark by nightfall."

"Well, I believe in you, Monty." Spencer said. Monty have Spencer a bashful smile. Clarke walked out of the dropship, Spencer as well.

Spencer was walking around, trying to see if she could spot Murphy. She didn't find him, but she saw a little girl. The same girl that was with Bellamy in the woods, and she was trying to tie a stack of wood together.

"Hey, you need help with that?" Spencer asked. The little girl smiled and nodded. Before Spencer started helping the girl, she finally spotted Murphy. He noticed her and smiled. "Your name is Charlotte, right?" She nodded. "Well, that's a beautiful name. I'm Spencer."

A boy, Spencer remembered his name to be Connor, fell beside her and Charlotte. He looked exhausted. "Hey!" Murphy called out. "You think the Grounders are just going to sit around and wait for us to finish the wall? Maybe we should let the little girl do the lifting for you, huh?"

"I just need some water, okay? Then I'll be fine." Connor said.

"Spencer, get this guy some water please." Bellamy requested.

Spencer nodded and grabbed a canteen and filled it with water. She came back to see Murphy pissing on Connor. She rolled her eyes. _Always have to start something, don't you?_

"What the hell is wrong with you, Murphy? I'll kill you!" Connor yelled and tried to attack him, but Murphy's buddies held him back.

"You wanted a water break." Murphy smirked. "Get back to work!" Murphy locked eyes with Spencer and saw that she wasn't happy. But he just brushed it off and walked away.

Spencer rolled her eyes and gave Connor the canteen. "Sorry that Murphy's a dick."

"You shouldn't apologize for him. He's gonna get what's coming to him one day." Connor gave Spencer the canteen back and walked away, because what he said pissed her off and she didn't feel like getting into another fight just yet.

Spencer went over and continued helping Charlotte, Spencer thought she was really sweet. Some dude tried to get water, but Murphy stopped him. "No water till this section is up!"

"Ah, must you be a dick to everyone, Murphy?" Spencer smirked.

"Guess it's just in my nature." Murphy smirked right back.

Suddenly, Spencer got shoved out of the way by Clarke. She managed to brush Spencer's arm, making it sting since it wasn't completely healed. Spencer sighed. "Could've...just asked me to move. Say excuse me at least." Spencer said, trying to hold in her anger.

"You son of a bitch!" Clarke yelled.

"Woah, what's your problem?" Murphy asked, amused.

"Recognize this?" Clarke held up a knife.

"It's my knife. Where'd you find it?" Murphy asked, trying to take it back.

"Where you dropped it after you killed Wells!"

Spencer's eyes widened. "Where I what?" Murphy asked, clearly pissed off. "The Grounders killed Wells, not me."

"I know what you did, and you're going to pay for it."

Spencer had to intervene. "Hey, Clarke. Back off, he couldn't have killed Wells. He was with me last night." Murphy gave Spencer a grateful look, but nobody looked convinced.

"Bellamy, you really believe this crap?" Murphy asked.

"You threatened to kill him. We all heard you. You hated him." Clarke persisted.

"Plenty of people hated Wells. His father was the Chancellor that locked us up."

"Yeah, but you're the only one that got in a knife fight with him!"

"Yeah, I didn't kill him then, either." Murphy replied.

"Tried to kill Jasper, too." Octavia said. Spencer sent her a harsh glare, _shut the fuck up orphan Annie._

"Come on. This is ridiculous. I don't have to answer to you. I don't have to answer to anyone!" Murphy said.

"Come again?" Bellamy asked.

"Bellamy, look, I'm telling you, man. I didn't do this." Murphy pleaded.

"They found his fingers on the ground with your knife." Bellamy said. Spencer scoffed; she couldn't believe this was happening. It felt like one of her nightmares.

"Is this the kind of society that we want? You say there should be no rules. Does that mean that we can kill each other without punishment?" Clarke said.

"Clarke, Murphy didn't kill Wells! Come on, if not Murphy then believe me. Please." Spencer begged Clarke, with tears forming in her eyes.

"How do I know you didn't help him kill Wells? You're a murderer, just like him." Man, if only looks could kill. Spencer would've killed Clarke dead as a doornail.

"I already told you. I didn't kill anyone!" Murphy tried to defend himself.

"I say we float him." Connor said out of nowhere and the majority of people agreeing. _No, no, no. Fuck._

"That's not what I'm saying!" Clarke said.

"Why not? He deserves to float. It's justice!"

Murphy looked to Spencer; he was terrified. Spencer went and stood next to him and held his hand, terrified herself. "Revenge isn't justice!" Clarke yelled.

"It's justice! Float him!" Connor yelled. The crowd started chanting float him. _No, please, this can't be happening. Please, wake up. Wake up._ Murphy tried to run, but someone tripped him.

"No!" Spencer and Clarke both yelled. Everyone took turns kicking Murphy repeatedly. Spencer tried to get to Murphy but Bellamy was trying to hold her back. "Let go of me!" Spencer yelled.

Tears started rolling down her face as they started tying Murphy up. Spencer threw her head back as hard as she could a few times and butted Bellamy right in the face, and he finally let her go. They threw Murphy down a hill and threw a rope over a tree. They were going to hang him.

Spencer tried to stop them, but Murphy was already strung up. "You can stop this!" Clarke desperately yelled at Bellamy.

"Bellamy should do it!" Connor yelled. Everyone started chanting Bellamy's name.

Spencer looked at Bellamy with tears in her eyes. "Please, Bellamy. He didn't do this!"

"I saw you in the woods with Atom! I know you're not a killer! Bellamy, don't do this!" Clarke yelled.

Bellamy ignored the girls' pleas and kicked out the box that was keeping Murphy from choking. "This is on you, princess! You should have kept your mouth shut!" Bellamy yelled at Clarke.

Spencer rushed to try to cut Murphy down but Connor turned her around and held a knife to her throat, already drawing blood and making her watch Murphy struggle to breathe. Spencer was sobbing. She couldn't bear to see Murphy like this. Spencer struggled even more, but all she got was more blood running down her neck and staining her shirt.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Finn came running. "Cut him down! Charlotte, get out of here now! Cut him down!" Finn ran to help Murphy. But Connor kicked Spencer in the back of her leg and kept her down with his boot on her bad arm, and he pointed his knife at Finn.

"No! Just stop okay!" Charlotte screamed. "Murphy didn't kill Wells! I did!"

"Oh my god." Clarke said and cut Murphy down. Spencer managed to knock over Connor and ran to Murphy, but not before she brought down her boot to his face and heard a satisfying crunch.

"Murphy!" Spencer called out, still crying. She cut the rope around his neck and he gasped for air. Spencer put his head in her lap and tried to comfort him. His face was bloody. A few of her tears fell onto his face, making the blood smear.

"Hey, remember I told you I can only deal with one crying girl per week. It hasn't even been two days." Murphy whispered weakly.

"I thought you were gonna die."

"I got close." Murphy's voice was hourse. He took ahold of Spencer's hand that was caressing his face. "Thank you for standing up for me."

Spencer shook her head. "I didn't try hard enough."

"If you tried any harder, you would've gotten more hurt than you already have." He said, staring at the cut on Spencer's neck that was still bleeding. "Can you help me stand?"

"Yeah, of course." Spencer helped him up and he instantly took off, Spencer following behind him. _This is about to get a whole lot worse._

Spencer and a group of delinquents stood outside of the tent that Finn, Clarke, and Bellamy were hiding Charlotte in. "Bring out the girl, Bellamy!" Murphy fumed. "Bring out the girl now! You wanna build a society, princess? Let's build a society. Bring her out!"

Bellamy finally came out of the tent. "Well, well, well. Look who decided to join us."

"Dial it down and back off." Bellamy commanded.

"Or what? What are you gonna do about me, huh? Hang me?"

"I was just giving the people what they wanted."

"Oh, that's such bullshit Bellamy. You know that you were just scared." Spencer voiced, making Bellamy glare at her but put a smirk on Murphy's face.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's a good idea. Why don't we do that right now?" Murphy turned to the group. "So, who here wants to see the real murderer hung up? All in favor?" He raised his hand.

Spencer didn't raise her hand. She agreed that Charlotte should be punished, but she didn't really want to see a 12-year-old get hung.

Murphy glared at everyone, including Spencer. "Oh, I see. So, it's okay to string me up for nothing, but when this little bitch confesses, you wanna let her walk?! Cowards! All of you are cowards!"

"Murphy! It's over!" Bellamy said.

Murphy smirked. "Whatever you say, boss." He said in a monotone voice. Bellamy turned to go back in the tent, but Murphy grabbed a log and hit Bellamy in the back of the head with it.

Spencer cringed, _that had to hurt._

"Son of a bitch!" Octavia yelled and tried to attack Murphy but Jasper stopped her, which got him punched in the face by Murphy. _Okay, Bellamy definitely deserved a punch but Jasper didn't._ Octavia went over to help Bellamy and Spencer went over to Jasper.

"Come on. Let's get the girl." Murphy said and went to open the tent to find it was empty. "Charlotte! Charlotte, I know you can hear me! And when I find you, you are gonna pay!" He yelled, and he was about to run off with his boys until Spencer stopped him.

"Murphy, this has gone on long enough. You don't wanna do this." Spencer said.

"Oh, yeah? You don't know what I want."

"Please, Murphy. If you go through with this, you're gonna regret it." She begged.

Murphy sighed. "Spencer, I don't want to hurt you. So, get out of my way before I make you." Spencer listened and reluctantly moved out of his way, and Murphy ran off.

It wasn't long until Bellamy woke up. "We need to find Charlotte!" He said immediately.

"I'm with you." Spencer said.

"I thought you'd be with Murphy." Bellamy huffed.

"Unlike you, I'm against hanging our own people." Spencer shoved Bellamy.

"We don't have time for this! Let's go." He said and they both took off into the woods to find Charlotte. Bellamy and Spencer were running for hours and it was starting to get dark and they still hadn't found Charlotte.

Spencer's feet were aching, and after the hanging of Murphy, she noticed that her arm wound tried to open; but since she has stitches, the wound trying to open just made the stitches tear her skin. _Fucking Connor,_ Spencer seethed. Every time she swayed her arm, she could feel it ache even more.

"Keep up, Spence!" Bellamy yelled when he notices that Spencer was slowing down.

"Bellamy, odds are, Clarke and Finn have it handled. We don't have to keep running." Spencer said, out of breath.

"Yeah, easy for you to say. You probably wouldn't mind if Murphy got Charlotte."

Spencer got in Bellamy's face, well, she's short so she tried to. "Like I said before, I don't condone the hanging of our people!" Bellamy was about to snap back but Spencer heard rustling in the woods. "Shut up, Bellamy. Listen."

Bellamy caught on quickly and they hid, afraid it was Murphy. They were wrong, it was Charlotte. Bellamy grabbed her and she panicked, but she quickly realized it was just Bellamy and Spencer.

They started to hear Murphy's shouts and they ran off. "Let me go!" Charlotte protested and struggled against Bellamy's grasp.

"We're trying to help you." Bellamy said.

"I'm not your sister. Just stop helping me!"

"Ungrateful little brat." Spencer huffed, causing Bellamy to glare at her before Charlotte tried to take off again and yelled to try to give away their position.

"Hey, are you trying to get us killed?" Bellamy said, gripping onto her.

"Just go. I'm the one they want." Charlotte said.

"Okay, Charlotte, listen to me. I won't leave you, and neither will Spencer." _Eh, I never said that, but I should probably keep that to myself._

"Please, Bellamy." Charlotte begged and tried to run off again. But Bellamy picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, with her still screaming. They both took off, but Charlotte was still trying to get Murphy to find them.

"Goddamnit kid! Can't we just knock her out?" Spencer asked.

"Not now, Spencer!" Bellamy whisper yelled to her. They kept running until they hit a cliff. "Damn it!" Bellamy yelled.

Murphy finally caught up with them, and he was shocked to see Spencer with Bellamy, but it quickly turned into anger. "Bellamy, you can't fight all of us. Give her up." Murphy said.

"Maybe not. But I guarantee we'll take a few of you with us."

"Bellamy! Stop!" Clarke yelled, coming out of the woods with Finn. Clarke got between the two groups. "This has gone too far. Just calm down. We'll talk about this."

Suddenly, Murphy turned Clarke around and held his knife to get throat. "I'm sick of listening to you talk." Murphy told Clarke.

"Murphy, let her go!" Spencer said, taking cautious steps towards them.

"Back off! I will slit her throat!" Spencer quickly took a step back.

"No, please. Don't hurt her!" Charlotte begged.

"Don't hurt her? Okay, I'll make you a deal. You come with me right now, I will let her go."

"Don't do it, Charlotte." Clarke said. Charlotte tried, but Bellamy held her back.

"Murphy, this is not happening." Bellamy said.

"Please, Murphy. Just let Clarke go." Spencer said.

"Shut up, Spencer!" Murphy snapped.

"I can't let any of you get hurt anymore." Everyone turned to Charlotte when they heard her timid voice. "Not because of me. Not after what I did." Then she did something none of them expected. She jumped off the cliff.

"No!" Spencer screamed and tried to catch her. Spencer could barely feel her jacket sleeve, but Bellamy stopped her from falling with Charlotte.

Spencer watched her fall and disappear in the foggy ground, hearing a distant thud. She heard Clarke screaming from beside her. Spencer stood up with tears in her eyes and looked at Murphy. As soon as he saw the look on her face, he knew he screwed up. Bellamy got up and had a deadly look on his face.

Before Spencer could stop him, Bellamy ran and tackled Murphy, throwing several punches. "Bellamy, get off him!" Spencer squeaked. Finn and Spencer pulled Bellamy off of Murphy. Spencer kneeled down beside Murphy, she looked into his eyes and saw guilt.

"No, he deserves to die!" Bellamy yelled, catching Spencer's attention.

"No! We don't decide who lives and dies. Not down here!" Clarke said.

"So, help me God, if you say the people have the right to decide-"

"No, I was wrong before, okay? You were right. Sometimes it's dangerous to tell people the truth. But if we're going to survive down here, we can't just live by whatever the hell we want. We need rules."

"And who makes those rules, huh? You?"

"For now, we make the rules. Okay?" Clarke said, referring to Bellamy and herself.

"So, what, then? We just take him back and pretend like it never happened?"

"No!" Clarke yelled, she turned to look at the bleeding Murphy. "We banish him."

Spencer lightly gasped, _no._ Bellamy went and pushed Spencer out of the way and picked Murphy up and dragged him to the edge of the cliff. "Bellamy, no!" Spencer yelled and tried to go after him but was stopped by Finn.

"If I ever catch you near camp, we'll be back here. Understand?" Bellamy threatened. Murphy nodded and he threw him back on the ground, where Spencer instantly rushed to him. "As for the four of you, you can come back and follow me, or go off with him to die. Your choice." Bellamy said to Murphy's friends, then turned to Spencer. "That includes you, Spencer." He said and walked off, along with everyone else.

Finn tossed a knife to Murphy out of pity. "Come on, Spence."

"I'll catch up." Finn nodded and walked into the woods.

"I'm sorry, Spence. You were right." Murphy said.

Spencer shook her head. "It's not your fault. You couldn't have known what she'd do. But that doesn't matter now. I'm staying with you."

Murphy's eyes widened. "No, Spence. You can't. You have to go back."

"Don't make me leave you out here, John!" She yelled, with tears starting to form in her eyes again. Murphy's eyes softened and reached up to wipe a fallen tear.

He sighed. "I can't let you."

Spencer knew there was no winning this argument and gave up. "Fine. I'll go. But I'll be back. You just stay here and I'll bring you some supplies. Okay?" Murphy nodded.

Spencer got up and walked into the woods, giving Murphy one last glance before Finn approached her. "You're coming back?" Finn asked. Spencer slowly nodded. "Yeah, right. That's not happening." He said and started pulling her by her wrist back to camp.

"Let go, Finn! You gave up the right to influence my decisions when you ditched me."

Finn scoffed. "I thought we were past this."

"Seems like I can hold a grudge, now let me go!"

"Look, Spence, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for ditching you and... for this."

Spencer was confused. "Sorry for what, Finn?" Finn gave Spencer a look of pity before he knocked her out.

~~~~~~~~~~


	5. Twilight's Last Gleaming: Part 1

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone was confused when Finn caught up with Spencer unconscious in his arms. Finn wanted to protect Spencer so he gave no explanation, because he knew Bellamy would be pissed if he knew she wanted to go back to Murphy.

When everyone got back to camp, Bellamy and Clarke talked to the camp about what happened with Murphy and Charlotte as Finn put Spencer back in the tent her and Murphy used to share.

Finn hoped that Spencer could forgive him.

After some time, a painful shock woke Spencer. When she woke up, she was confused at first. She winced as she felt her arm wound throbbing. She saw that it had fresh bandages on it, _Clarke must've taken care of it._ She also noticed that her wristband was off. _What the hell?_

Spencer relaxed a little when she recognized that she was in Murphy's tent. Then she remembered and her eyes widened.

_Murphy._

All the memories came flooding back, making Spencer's head ache even more, but that didn't stop her from rushing out of the tent. Just in time to see a pod crashing into Earth.

Spencer looked over to Bellamy, and he definitely did not look happy. But at the moment, Spencer didn't care about some stupid pod. She only cared about whether Murphy was still alive or not.

Spencer rushed back into her tent and hurried to pack her supplies for Murphy. _If I hurry, I might make it to him before he leaves the cliff._ Before she could finish, Bellamy came into the tent.

Bellamy saw that she was packing a bag and narrowed his eyes at her, but that wasn't the priority right now. Spencer glared at him before he spoke. "Look, Spencer, I don't care what you're doing right now. I need your help."

Spencer scoffed. "Right. Like I'd help you."

"Spencer...I think it's time I told you what I did to get on the dropship."

"Okay." Spencer sighed. "You have my attention."

"To get on the dropship," Bellamy hesitated, he knew this was a risk, but he needed her help. "I shot the Chancellor."

Spencer's eyes widened; she wasn't expecting that. "How many people know?"

"Just you, and that's why I need your help getting to that pod. If it has a radio, then I need to get rid of it."

"And why would I help you do that?"

"Because, if the Ark comes down here, they will never pardon your crime. You know that right?" Spencer rubbed her hands over her face and sighed, actually considering it. "Spence, they'll kill both of us. But if we get to that pod, they won't be able to."

"Okay, Bellamy. Fine...but don't expect me to like it." _And plus, it would be a good opportunity to sneak off to find Murphy._

Bellamy sighed in relief and nodded in appreciation. "Okay, we got to leave right now." He said and left the tent. Spencer quickly finished packing her bag and hurried after Bellamy.

They both kept running. _Man, he must be really anxious to get that radio._ "Bellamy!" Spencer called out, "Can't you like, slow down?" She panted.

"No, I can't. I have to get that damn radio!" He said and kept running. Spencer rolled her eyes and attempted to keep up the same pace. Before they took off in a sprint again, Octavia showed up.

"Bellamy! Spencer! What are you doing?" Octavia said, making them stop.

"Go back to camp. It isn't safe." Bellamy said.

"You lied to everyone. You lied to me. You just want whatever's in that pod."

"Just go home!" Bellamy pushed Octavia.

"You always want to play big brother, huh? Well, guess what? Joke's on me. You're just a selfish dick, so are you Spencer. I thought you were better than this."

"You don't know me, Octavia." Spencer replied.

"I did this for you, to protect you. If the Ark finds out we're down here, they'll come down. And when they do, I'm dead." Bellamy said.

"What did you do?" Octavia asked.

"I shot him. I shot Jaha."

"I found out they were sending you to Earth. I couldn't let you go alone. Someone came to me with a deal. Do this. Kill him, and they'd get me on the dropship. And I did it."

"I didn't ask you to do that."

"You're right. I made the choice. This is on me. Whatever they sent down; I'll take care of it." Bellamy replied.

"I didn't ask for any of this." Octavia said and ran off, leaving Spencer and Bellamy in silence.

Spencer audibly exhaled. "Well, that wasn't awkward at all."

Bellamy sighed. "Shut up, Spencer. Look, just, go back to camp."

"What? Why?"

"Like I told O, I'll handle it myself." Bellamy said and ran in the direction of the pod, leaving Spencer alone.

Spencer sighed. _I should probably go with him, but he just gave me the perfect opportunity to go find Murphy._

Spencer turned and took off in a sprint with a newfound motivation to find her friend. She ran to the spot she saw him last, the cliff.

It was almost sundown when she finally got there. She might've gotten a little lost. Her lungs were on fire, but she was too stubborn to stop.

She arrived to the cliff where she told Murphy to wait for her, not really surprised to find that he wasn't there.

Spencer walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down. All she could picture was Charlotte jumping off the edge, she wondered if she was still down there. She shook the thoughts out of her head and looked around for any sign where Murphy could've gone. Then she noticed something shiny, reflecting off the lowering sun.

Spencer went over and saw it was a knife. Murphy's knife. Spencer knew he wouldn't have just left it. She grabbed it and followed footprints that she noticed. Once she made it to the tree line, she heard rustling in the trees.

Spencer gulped. _It could just be rabbits or birds, right?_

Well, she was wrong. A large Grounder emerged from the woods and charged at her. Spencer managed to dodge the Grounder and she quickly pulled out Murphy's knife and swung at him, barely leaving a scratch.

_Guess I could use more practice..._

The Grounder ran at Spencer again, this time punching her and and knocking her to the ground. The Grounder started kicking her sides, definitely leaving bruises.

Suddenly, Spencer looked to her left and saw a bunch of flares shooting up into the sky. Before Spencer could form a coherent thought about it, the Grounder knocked Spencer out.

~~~~~~~~~~


	6. Twilight's Last Gleaming: Part 2

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

**Bold = Trigedasleng**

Warning: Torture and mentions abuse and sexual assault.

~~~~~~~~~~

Murphy felt like crying, but he didn't want to look weaker than he already looked.

He still couldn't believe he let himself get caught. Murphy wondered if Spencer ever went back for him. He waited for her for hours, but he tried not to get angry and tried to tell himself that she must've gotten caught up with something.

All he wanted was something to drink, so he left that spot on the cliff for just a few minutes to find water. It wasn't long before a Grounder caught him.

When Murphy came to, the first thing he noticed was how terrible it smelled. It was a mix of earth musk and blood. He was underground. He quickly stood up and realized he was in a cage.

Of course, he tried to open the door, but it was locked. _Fuck! Fuck, okay. Just relax, Murphy. Just relax. What now?_

Murphy tried to see if there was any other way to escape, there wasn't. He felt helpless.

Murphy jumped when a few Grounders came into the room. Two were male and one was female. They both wore dark clothing and black face paint, and they were speaking a language that Murphy didn't recognize.

A Grounder went to open Murphy's cage. In other circumstances, he would be relieved that someone was opening a cage door, but he was unnerved by the other Grounder that was setting up a bunch of surgical looking tools.

Getting tortured was new to Murphy. He almost preferred that Bellamy had thrown him off that cliff with Charlotte. But no, Murphy was determined to survive this. He had to, and no matter how much he hated everyone at camp, he couldn't give away information that could get everyone killed, especially since Spencer was there.

But his spirit was crushed even more when he saw a Grounder come in with Spencer over his shoulder, unconscious.

"No! No!" Murphy couldn't control his actions. He was pissed off and actually scared that Spencer was here.

The Grounder took Spencer off his shoulder and started dragging her across the floor towards a chair that Murphy had been strapped to multiple times since he's been trapped.

Spencer was drifting in and out. She heard someone shouting, but couldn't quite place the voice. Her body was aching. She tried opening her eyes, but they felt so heavy. She felt that she was being dragged and then sat in a chair. Spencer's body was aching so much that she couldn't even try to fight.

The Grounder then threw ice cold water on Spencer, and that made her eyes shoot open. She noticed that she was underground. She looked up to see three Grounders staring her down.

The female Grounder turned to the others and spoke something to them, but it wasn't English. The Grounders nodded and one harshly grabbed Spencer threw her in a cage.

"Spencer!"

Spencer froze. She finally recognized the voice. She turned to see her friend, John Murphy.

"Murphy." Spencer whispered. His face was covered in dirt and blood. If it wasn't for his eyes, Spencer probably wouldn't have recognized him.

" **The girl is one the Sky People too.** " The Grounder woman said and smirked. " **We'll get them to talk.** " She said and walked out, along with the other Grounders.

Spencer watched them leave and then when she heard a door shut, she limped over to Murphy. They were both in separate cages, so she couldn't do anything to help him.

"Spencer, what are you doing here?" Murphy asked.

"I, uh, I went looking for you. But a Grounder caught me."

"Yeah, that's obvious." He sighed. "These Grounders are trying to get information about our camp. By any means necessary." He shivered.

Spencer felt her bottom lip tremble. "They've been torturing you?"

Murphy nodded. "And that you're here, they'll torture you too." Spencer tensed up; she had been tortured before, but not how the Grounders have been torturing Murphy. "You should've never have come looking for me, Spence."

"Well, sorry if I was actually worried about you." Spencer huffed.

"I appreciate the gesture, but it doesn't change the fact that now we're both stuck here." Murphy said, frustrated.

The conversation didn't go any further than that before the Grounders came back in. The same woman came back as well. One of the Grounders were carrying objects, objects that look like they'd hurt. " **Which one, general?** " The Grounder asked.

The female Grounder turned to look at Spencer. " **The Sky girl first.** "

The man nodded and went to unlock Spencer's cage. Spencer tried to back up but then gave up when she remembered that she was trapped. She hissed as the Grounder grabbed her by her wounded arm. He chained Spencer to the same chair that she was in before.

The Grounder looked down on Spencer, then ran his fist across her face. Spencer's head jerked to the side and a stream of blood poured from her mouth.

"How many people are in your camp?" The Grounder woman asked.

Spencer spit out the blood. "Piss off." Spencer said to the woman, which earned her another punch from the male Grounder.

The woman came closer. "I asked, how many people in your camp? How many weapons do you have?"

Spencer leaned as close as she could to the woman. "And I said, piss off."

The woman smirked. " **Break her.** "

The male smirked evilly.

It seemed like hours went by, but in reality, it was probably only 30 minutes. Minutes of torture. The Grounder went to town on Spencer. Cutting her, or whipping her. She never talked. She promised herself that she'd never tell the Grounders anything about their camp, even if it kills her.

She may hate everyone right now, but she still somewhat cares about them. Especially Finn, and Bellamy might've grown on her despite being a dick.

Finn might've made the wrong decisions with Spencer, like making her leave Murphy or ditching her when they were little. But Finn is still like a brother to her, and she wasn't going to let him get killed by these people.

Murphy got thrown a few punches himself during Spencer's torture, since he couldn't keep his mouth shut. Spencer just hoped he wouldn't give in because of her.

When the Grounder was about to cut her again, the female Grounder walked in. " **Did the girl talk?** "

The male Grounder shook his head. " **No. She hasn't said a word.** "

The woman was frustrated. She sighed. " **Put the girl back. Try the boy again.** "

The male untied Spencer from the splintering chair and threw her back into her cell. She fell to the floor and didn't even have enough energy to move. Spencer has lost so much blood in the last 24 hours that her body felt limp.

It wasn't long till Spencer started hearing Murphy's screams. She winced and tears came to her eyes. She tried to move but body couldn't handle how much blood and energy she'd lost. Spencer heard Murphy scream again before she ultimately passed out.

Spencer woke up, face down in the dirt. Her body ached and burned. Spencer shakily sat up; it was a little dark. The only light was coming from outside, it seemed like it was going to be morning soon.

Spencer looked over and saw Murphy, looking even worse than before. She scooted over to the bars of her cage to get closer to Murphy, which seemed to startle him.

"You're awake." Murphy's voice was hoarse. Spencer's probably was too.

She looked down to his hands, they were bleeding. His fingernails were gone. Spencer felt tears prick her eyes. _I wish I could've helped him._

"I didn't tell them anything. If that's what you're thinking."

Spencer shook her head. "No. I just wished I could've helped you."

"The only way you could've helped me is if you had told them about our camp, so maybe it's a good thing you passed out." Murphy said. "So, since this might be the last time we ever speak to each other, can you tell me about your father?"

Spencer scoffed. "Really? You wanna talk about this now?"

"Why not? You know we're probably gonna die, right? Might as well."

"I'll tell you my story if you tell me yours." Murphy sighed. He seemed hesitant, but nodded. "Okay, why are you down here in the first place."

"So, when I was younger, I got the flu. My father stole meds for me that didn't even help. He got floated for it," He paused, "My mother started drinking a lot. One day, I found her in her own vomit. Her last words to me was that I killed my father." Murphy had tears rolling down his face.

"She was wrong, your mother. You didn't kill your father. The Chancellor did." Murphy looked to Spencer, with an expression she couldn't quite read. "Your father sounds like he was a good man."

"Yeah, he was..." Murphy coughed. "Anyway, the reason I'm down here. I set fire to the dorm of the guard that arrested my father. Now, you know my story. Tell me yours."

Spencer found it so hard to even think about it, let alone tell the story out loud. But she made a deal. "Okay." Spencer took a deep breath.

Spencer told Murphy about how her father abused her mother, how she got floated for protecting her, and it was one of the reasons she killed him.

"Wait, you said that was only one of the reasons. What's the other one?"

"I...I've never told anyone before." She stuttered.

"Yeah, well, I didn't leave anything out of my story. You have to do the same." Murphy insisted.

"Fine." Spencer paused.

"After my mom died, I was just starting to become a teenager. My father, he, uh, took a liking to me, I guess. He would, um, make me do things. It was every time he got really drunk. When I was 17, I purposely hurt my ankle. I went to medical where the doc fixed me, but I managed to steal a scalpel. When I got home, my father was passed out. So, I tied him up to his bed and tortured him. Eventually, his screams attracted the guards. I stabbed him to death before they took me away."

Spencer was too scared to look at Murphy. _He's probably disgusted by me, by what I did._

Murphy didn't say anything, which made Spencer even more nervous. Right now, Spencer would've given anything to hear her own tortured screams than to be sitting in the silence.

She managed to turn her head to look at Murphy. He looked shocked, sad, and mad at the same time. Not at all what Spencer was expecting. "You're not disgusted with me?" She asked timidly.

Murphy let out a bitter laugh. "No, Spencer. I hope you feel fucking proud of what you did. Your bastard of a father deserved what you did to him and more."

Spencer stared at him in disbelief. Most people would call Spencer a monster, but Murphy didn't. She stayed silent. She didn't know how to respond to that. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I just, it wouldn't have gotten him floated. He was close with a member of the council. He would've just gotten a slap on the wrist with no punishment."

"How many people have you told? About what happened with your mom and him?"

"Not many," Spencer paused, "You, Finn, and..." She trailed off.

"And who?"

"Alex. He was a close friend of mine back on the Ark. Finn and I used to be really close childhood friends, and it was a few years after we grew apart that I found Alex. He was kind of like Finn's replacement at the time, but then we grew to be real friends and I told him mostly everything about my home life."

"At least you had someone to rely on."

"Yeah." Spencer smiled sadly.

It wasn't long after their conversation when the Grounders came in again, the female Grounder looking more pissed off than usual. The male Grounder took Spencer first and strapped her to the uncomfortable chair.

"This is your last chance to talk! Tell us everything about your camp! Otherwise, we will have to take more drastic measures, Sky girl." The female Grounder said.

To say she terrified Spencer was an understatement, but her being the stubborn bitch she is, "I'm not talking." Spencer hissed.

Even when Spencer sasses her, the Grounder still keeps a calm and confident front. "Hmm, very well." She replies and nods to the other Grounder.

The male Grounder put a sharp metal rod in a fire, making it glow slightly orange. Spencer braced herself, and he shoved the flaming rod into her shoulder.

It was searing, so painful that Spencer didn't even feel it at first. But the pain quickly caught up with her and her vision went white for a split second. She definitely ripped her vocal chords to shreds from screaming so loud.

The Grounder, after what felt like an eon to Spencer, finally removed the rod. Spencer exhaled a breath of relief, but only to get prodded with the rod in the same spot.

It was so much pain that Spencer got blurry vision, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough for her to pass out.

Spencer looked down at her shoulder. There was a deep puncture wound that was bleeding but also forming boils around it. _That is probably the ugliest looking thing I've ever seen, besides this Grounder._

The Grounder suddenly pulled out from his torture table, an object that kind of looked like scissors. "I hope you don't mind losing a few fingers." The Grounder woman smirked.

Spencer almost started crying at the thought, but she knew she couldn't show weakness, especially with her watching. The male came at Spencer with his pair of finger-removing scissors, and positioned Spencer's pinkie in them. "Tell me about your camp!"

Spencer sucked up the little bit of energy and confidence she had left. "Go float yourself."

The Grounder slowly started to squeeze together the scissors around her finger, drawing blood and making her scream out in pain. "Wait!" Murphy yelled, just in time. Before could even reach the bone, the Grounder stopped. "I'll tell you everything. Please, just leave her alone."

Spencer felt a mixture of relief and anger. "Murphy, don't." She said, half conscious.

Murphy had a look of guilt on his face. "Sorry, Spence."

Spencer couldn't keep herself awake any longer and passed out.

~~~~~~~~~~  
 **...sorry, that was a lot lol**


	7. I Am Become Death

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

Murphy told the Grounders everything. He felt guilty about it, but at least Spencer wasn't going to get tortured anymore. He hoped.

After Murphy spilled his guts, the Grounders threw him back in his cell. Soon after, Murphy fell asleep. But when he woke up, he noticed that his cell door didn't have a lock on it. He pushed the door and it opened.

_Holy shit! I didn't think it would actually open._

Murphy quickly went to get Spencer, but her cell was locked. Murphy looked around and grabbed a large rock and tried to break open the door without making too much noise, which didn't work but he got the door open pretty quickly.

Murphy quickly shook Spencer awake. "Murphy? How are you..."

"My cage was unlocked, now come on, this might be our only chance to escape." Murphy grabbed Spencer and pulled her off the ground. Spencer looked at her shoulder, it didn't look too good. Murphy sensed her concern. "We gotta get you to Clarke."

Murphy went outside first, no one was guarding the door. "It's all clear." They both exited the prison and went off into the woods.

Murphy kept trying to hurry Spencer, but her shoulder was just too hurt. Spencer stopped. "Hey, what the hell, why are you stopping? We have to go."

"Murphy, my shoulder, it's just gonna slow you down. You need to go without me."

"No, no way. I'm not leaving you here. You'll die, or get taken again."

"You can go get help, come back for me later." Spencer sat down against a tree to try to prove her point, but Murphy had other ideas.

Murphy stomped towards Spencer and, without warning, threw her over his shoulder, ignoring his own pain. It put tons of pressure on Spencer's shoulder, which made her yelp. "I'm not leaving you here to die, Spence. So, deal with it."

Murphy tried to run as fast as he possibly could with Spencer. Spencer was trying so hard not to yell in pain from her shoulder; she was probably in the worst pain she'd ever been in before. She tried to stay conscious, just in case Murphy needed her, as if she'd be any help if they got attacked by Grounders again.

Spencer couldn't take it anymore. "Murphy, put me down, please! My shoulder hurts too much." She cried out.

Murphy reluctantly stopped and sat her down. Spencer tried to relax but her shoulder was killing her. Murphy sighed. "I'm still not leaving you." He said, out of breath.

"God, I know, you said that already." Spencer snapped and sighed. "I just...I just need a minute."

Murphy nodded and sat next to her, trying to catch his breath as well. "You know, the longer we wait the longer it'll take to get Clarke to fix your shoulder."

"Okay, okay, I get it." Spencer started to get up, but Murphy quickly got up to help her. "Don't you dare throw me over your shoulder again. That shit hurt too much."

"Okay, fine." Murphy chuckled weakly, and put Spencer's arm over his shoulders and then they slowly made their way back to camp.

After long agonizing minutes of walking and Murphy insisting that he carry Spencer and her denying him over and over and Spencer feeling like arm was going to fall off, they finally were getting close to camp. Surprisingly, it didn't take them forever in the dark.

Halfway to camp, Spencer noticed that Murphy was getting more and more worse over time. It was like he was getting sick. Spencer eventually had to support herself and Murphy more, but he still tried to help. And before Spencer could warn him, Murphy got caught on a trip wire. They both fell to the ground in agony since they both already felt horrible, also the trip wire made a lot of noise.

All of a sudden, they heard gunshots and the bullets just barely missed them. They could barely move; they were too weak to. But Spencer started panicking when she saw a light moving towards them.

"Oh my God. Murphy? Spencer?"

Spencer exhaled a breath of relief. "Octavia." She said in a weak voice.

Octavia was relieved to see Spencer. After Spencer disappeared, everyone thought she was taken by the same Grounder that took Octavia, but when they didn't find her, mostly everyone thought she was dead.

But Murphy on the other hand, Octavia was pissed. Octavia ordered some boys to take Murphy inside the camp, while Octavia put Spencer's arm around her shoulder and helped her inside. "God, Spence, what happened to you guys?"

"We were taken by Grounders."

"We thought you were dead, Spence." Octavia said, taking her into the dropship.

"We almost were."

Spencer felt a little bit better after she was given some water from Octavia, she just wished the pain in her shoulder would go away.

Spencer was sat next to Murphy when Bellamy came in. "Where are they?" He demanded.

The self-appointed leader pushed through the small crowd and found them. A wave of relief washed over Bellamy when he saw that Spencer was alive, but all that relief turned into anger when he saw Murphy next to her. "Everyone but Connor and Derek out now!"

"They claimed they were with Grounders." The kid named Derek said.

"We caught them trying to sneak back into camp." Connor said, looking at Spencer with disgust.

"We weren't sneaking. We were running from Grounders." Murphy said.

"Anyone see any Grounders?" Bellamy asked. Connor shook his head no. "Well, in that case." Bellamy raised his gun to Murphy, which caused Spencer to ignore all the pain in her body and got in front of the gun. "Spencer, get out of my way."

"You'll have to shoot me first." Spencer's voice wavered, but she kept her stance.

Bellamy faltered, but kept his gun raised, his eyes not leaving hers. He didn't want to kill her, even if he's pissed at her. He noticed her wobbly stance, she was weak. He could easily push her out of the way. But when he didn't lower his gun, Finn came in.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Finn said and quickly made Bellamy lower his gun.

"We were clear what would happen if he came back." Bellamy said, raising his gun to Spencer again.

"Hey! We didn't say that about Spencer."

"I was clear about anyone who stayed with him too. You made her come back when she wanted to help him. To me, she's just as much as a traitor as Murphy." Bellamy said coldly.

"That's not how you acted when you were out looking for her and Octavia. But if they were with Grounders, then they know things that can help us!" Finn said.

"Help us? We hanged Murphy, banished him, and now we're gonna to kill him!" Bellamy raised his gun to Spencer again. "Get the hell out of my way!"

"No, Bellamy." Finn walked in front of Spencer. "I know you don't want to kill Spencer, but we're not letting you kill Murphy when he has intel."

"Finn is right." Clarke spoke up and kneeled beside Murphy and started looking at his wounds.

"Like hell he is!" Bellamy yelled. "Think about Charlotte!"

"I am thinking about her, but what happened to Charlotte was as much out fault as his."

"Yeah, and if I remembered correctly, Bellamy, I was the one who helped you try to protect her." Spencer added.

"Don't lie, Spencer. You wanted her dead just as much as Murphy did. You're a murderer, just like him." Bellamy glared.

 _Wow, low blow Bellamy._ Spencer sat back down next to Murphy. "Oh yeah? And who the hell are you to judge, shooter?"

Bellamy rolled his eyes. That would've been a low blow too if he didn't know he didn't actually kill the Chancellor.

Clarke sighed. "They're not lying. Murphy's fingernails were torn off, and Spencer somehow looks awful too. They tortured them."

"You and the Grounders should compare notes." Finn said to Bellamy. Spencer furrowed her eyebrows at his comment. _What the hell does that mean?_

"The Grounders know we're at war. What did you tell them about us?" Bellamy yelled at Spencer and Murphy.

Spencer looked to Murphy. "Everything." Murphy said. Everyone looked worried.

Clarke sighed and got up. "Once they're better, we find out what they know, and then they're out of here, okay?" Clarke said to Bellamy. Finn gave Spencer a worried look.

"And what if they refuse to leave? What do we do with them then?"

Clarke looked down at Spencer and Murphy. "Then we kill them."

"Clarke!" Finn yelled. "You can't mean Spencer too."

"Finn, she made her choice when she left." Clarke walked out.

Finn sighed and walked over to Spencer. "I'll get her to change her mind."

Spencer let out a weak chuckle. "Good luck changing Bellamy's."

"That'll be no trouble at all." Finn chuckled.

"What does that even mean?"

"Well, Octavia went missing when you did. Bellamy tried to look for you too, we all did, but we only found Octavia. Bellamy kinda blamed himself for leaving you out in the woods, he thought a Grounder took you. But since I know you, I told him that you were probably with Murphy. That just pissed him off." Finn paused, "I didn't think you were actually taken. I'm so sorry, Shorty."

"Finn, it's okay. You didn't know. I missed you." Finn smiled and tried to hug Spencer, tried because she hissed in pain when he did. "Sorry, it's my shoulder."

Finn without a word went ahead and lifted up the part of her shirt that covers her shoulder. He cringed at the sight. "It's ugly huh?"

"Spencer, that looks horrible. I'm going to get Clarke." Finn said and ran out of the dropship.

"We're probably gonna be killed and it's my fault." Murphy suddenly said. Spencer turned to look at him with a confused look. "I tried to kill Charlotte and I got banished, but I brought you into it."

Spencer shook her head. "No, Murphy. It's not your fault that Charlotte died, and it's not your fault that I'm in this situation either. I chose to try to find you. I was the one who sided with you. You didn't force me to do anything."

"Why? Why did you side with me?"

Before Spencer could answer, Finn came back in the dropship with Clarke. "Let me look at your shoulder." Clarke said. Spencer moved the clothing out of the way. After a couple moments, Clarke sighed. "I need you to take off your shirt, I don't have a good view of it."

Spencer tensed up, but nodded and removed her shirt anyway. Spencer hated taking her shirt off, she had a bunch of scars from where her father beat her on her torso. Spencer just hoped that all the blood off shoulder wound cover them.

Clarke grabbed a wet cloth and started to clean the blood off the shoulder wound to get a better look at it. "Well, it's not infected, which is a really good thing. You're very lucky to have such a wound out in the open for so long and have it not gotten infected. But the bad news is the puncture wound is too deep. We'll have to cauterize it."

Spencer could feel her own heart rate quicken. "Oh boy, that'll be amazing to experience." She said unenthusiastically.

"Good to know your sense of humor is still intact." Finn said.

"Unlike half of my finger, which can easily fall off any minute now." Spencer said, waving her pinkie in front of Clarke.

Clarke rolled her eyes and helped Spencer over to what seemed like the same chair she sat in last time Clarke tended to her wounds. First Clarke stitched up Spencer's finger, which hurt like hell but not as much compared to what's about to come. After she was done, she wrapped Spencer's finger in a bandage.

"Now, are you ready for the fun part?" Clarke asked and went to heat up a knife.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess." Spencer sighed. Finn held out his hand for her, but she refused, making him frown. "I don't want to hurt your hand Finn."

Clarke came back with the knife. Clarke looked to Spencer and she nodded, then placed the hot knife on her shoulder. Spencer grit her teeth and tried not to scream. _Oh yep, this feels familiar._ It was over quickly and Clarke wrapped Spencer's shoulder up, as well as cleaned the various other wounds that covered her body.

"Spencer, I'm sorry about what I said before. About your father and Wells. I was just angry."

"Clarke, your anger got Murphy hanged, then banished and captured by Grounders." Spencer replied.

"Look, I don't want either of you to die and I don't actually want you killed. Finn talked to me about it, and I'll try to convince Bellamy to let you stay."

"If I stay, Murphy stays."

"Spencer, that's not possible."

"Come on, Clarke. At least let him try to earn his right to stay." Spencer begged.

"Look, we'll talk about this later. I have to go." Clarke said and left the dropship again. Finn gave Spencer a small smile and left as well, leaving her and Murphy.

Spencer kept sitting in the chair, thinking. She tried to relax but knowing Bellamy and possibly everyone else was willing to kill Murphy and her kept her on edge.

Spencer looked over to Murphy, he looked worse. She got up and sat down next to him again. "You never answered me. Why did you try to protect me?" Murphy asked.

"Look, I don't know why. But I do know that I care about you, a lot. Okay? There's your answer." Spencer said and crossed her arms.

For the first time in a while, Spencer saw Murphy's eyes light up and Murphy actually felt glad. He even cracked a little smile, but that was before he vomited blood.

"Murphy!" Spencer cried. She tried to comfort him by rubbing his back, but she got distracted when Clarke ran in looking like she was crying...blood.

"I need you both to tell me exactly how you escaped from the Grounders. What happened?" Clarke asked urgently.

"I don't know. I woke up, and they forgot to lock my cage. There was no one there so I broke Spencer out and we took off." Murphy answered.

Clarke looked defeated. "They let you go." Clarke said, and then Bellamy walked in. "Bellamy, stay back."

"Did Murphy do something to you?" Bellamy asked. Clarke shook her head, then Bellamy noticed her eyes. "What the hell is this?"

"Biological warfare." Clarke said. "You were waiting for the Grounders to retaliate for the bridge? This is it. Murphy's the weapon."

"Is this your revenge, helping the Grounders kill us?" Bellamy asked Murphy.

"I didn't know about this, okay, I swear." Murphy said.

"Stop lying! When are they coming?" Bellamy yelled.

"He's not fucking lying!" Spencer yelled back.

"Murphy, think, all right? What can you tell us that's useful? Did you hear anything? Spencer?" Clarke asked.

"They are viscous. Cruel." Murphy replied.

"You want to see vicious?" Bellamy threatened, coming towards him. Spencer was about to get up, but Clarke stopped him.

"Whatever this thing is, it spreads through contact." Clarke said. Then suddenly, Finn rushed in. "Finn, you shouldn't be in here. No one should."

"I heard you were sick." Finn looked around at the sick people being brought in. "Clarke, what is this?"

"I don't know, some kind of hemorrhagic fever. We just need to contain it before-" Clarke was cut short by a kid puking his guts and eventually dying. Finn asked Clarke what to do. "Quarantine. We need to round up everyone who has been in contact with Murphy and Spencer. Bring them here."

"And the people they've been in contact with?" Bellamy asked.

"We have to start somewhere. Connor, who was with you when you found them? Who carried them in? Think."

"The first one there was Octavia." Connor said, which made Bellamy rush out of the dropship.

"Clarke, but I don't have any of Murphy's symptoms. I feel fine, apart from my shoulder." Spencer said.

"You still had contact with him. Your immune system is weak, it's trying to heal your wounds. So, you still could get the virus." Spencer nodded at what Clarke said.

One by one, the kids that were brought in with the virus that Murphy has, have been dropping like flies. Spencer has yet to have any symptoms, she hoped it'll stay that way.

Suddenly, Finn rushes in carrying Clarke in his arms. Murphy gets up from the hammock that he was laying in and gave it to Clarke. Murphy and Octavia started to give water to people, but Murphy was in worse shape than Spencer, so she took the water from him.

Connor started coughing, so Octavia sent Murphy to help him on his side. When Murphy actually did that, Spencer was shocked. Murphy told Connor "bygones" but somehow Spencer knew he didn't mean it.

Eventually, Bellamy got the virus. Two boys were carrying him in. He looked awful. _Talk about karma,_ Spencer chuckled. They laid Bellamy down and he started to cough up blood.

Spencer smirked, but she knew she probably shouldn't have. She was still pissed at him for what he did to Murphy, but she still couldn't bring herself to hate him, and knew that she'd forgive him eventually. But today was not that day, when he refused Murphy's help.

"When I get better, if you're still here-"

"Chill out, Bellamy. He was only trying to help." Spencer glared at Bellamy.

Before he could reply, Clarke walked up to them. "Hey, I got this one." Murphy handed her the water that he tried to give to Bellamy and walked off, with Spencer following behind.

"Hey, you okay?" Spencer asked him.

Murphy nodded. "I appreciate you standing up for me, but you don't have to fight all my battles for me."

"I know. Bellamy just gets on my nerves."

"Yeah, I can tell." Murphy chuckled.

All of a sudden, the camp heard a loud boom that shook the ground. Spencer quickly rushed outside to see a big mushroom cloud of smoke. Someone explained to Spencer that Raven built a bomb that blew up the bridge her and Murphy ran across to escape the Grounders.

Spencer had known of Raven before, even saw her a few times on the Ark. But she had yet to meet her. Spencer never really liked her since Finn ultimately ditched Spencer for her, but she thought that maybe they could become friends down here.

Soon after, Finn, Jasper, Monty, and Raven came back. Raven being held up by Finn, which Spencer noticed that Clarke looked saddened by that. _Finn knows how to break people's hearts, that's for sure._

Finn walked away from Raven looking a little heartbroken. "Hey, you okay?" Spencer asked.

"Not really. Raven just broke up with me." Finn sighed.

"Oh...you cheated on her with Clarke, didn't you?"

"Yeah...I did. I didn't even know if I'd see Raven again, Spence."

"I get it. Must suck for Raven though."

"Please tell me you're not gonna be petty towards her just because of something I did when we were kids."

"Who, me? Petty?" Finn narrowed his eyes. "No, I'm not." Spencer chuckled. "Plus, she seems like a good enough person to be friends with. I'm not gonna ruin my chances just cause I was pissed at you."

"Good. Raven deserves to have a friend like you. Anyway, you should probably get some rest, I know I am." He said and walked out of the dropship.

Awhile after, everyone went to sleep. Well, mostly everyone. Spencer couldn't seem to fall asleep and apparently, neither could Murphy.

Murphy looked around and checked everyone to see if they were asleep, everyone but Spencer. Murphy grabbed a cloth and kneeled over a sleeping Connor.

Spencer tried to inch a little closer to see, but it made a small creaking noise which alerted Murphy.

"I thought you were asleep." Murphy whispered and walked over to Spencer. "I, uh, I was just checking on Connor."

Spencer quietly chuckled, which panicked Murphy a little bit and also made him confused. "You weren't checking on Connor, Murphy." Murphy considered knocking out Spencer, but she started speaking again. "Can I help?" Spencer batted her eyelashes.

Murphy was intrigued, slightly aroused, but still suspicious. "Why?"

"Like I said before, I care about you and he almost killed me and made me watch you hang from that damn noose. I've wanted the bastard dead for quite some time now."

Murphy smirked, and bit his lip. "I do forget you aren't as innocent as you look. By all means, enjoy yourself." He whispered.

Murphy took the rag in his hand and shoved it over Connor's face, making sure to block all his airways. Connor tried to claw Murphy's face, but Spencer quickly held his arms down. Connor looked to Spencer desperately, trying to beg for his life with his eyes. Unluckily for him, Spencer has no mercy on those who have wronged her greatly. Before all life drained from Connor, Murphy whispered out,

"Bygones."

~~~~~~~~~~


	8. The Calm

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

As per usual, mostly everyone was up and atom the moment it hit dawn. Spencer walked out of the dropship and walked around camp looking for something to do until she heard that Raven was working in a nearby tent.

_Well, no time like the present to officially introduce myself._

When Spencer opened the tent, it seemed like Raven was too focused on her work so Spencer cleared her throat, making her presence known. "Hey, Raven, I'm-"

"Spencer Rolfe. I know who you are." Raven interrupted, still working on the bullets.

"Oh, uh, I just wanted to introduce myself officially."

"Well, I know who you are, officially. Everyone on the Ark knows who you are." Raven said and turned in her seat to face Spencer. "Word spread around fast when you were sent down here against the Chancellor's orders."

Spencer tensed up and felt her face heat up. "What do you mean? I was sent down here to see if Earth was survivable, just like everyone else."

Raven shrugged. "Apparently not. They really wanted to float you, but it seems you have a guardian angel. Someone wanted you to to live."

"Oh, I uh, I guess that makes sense ha." Spencer stuttered, not liking Raven's gaze.

"You brutally murdered your own father. Everyone says that you're a danger to yourself and others."

Spencer sighed and was about to walk out before Raven speaking again. "But Finn told me that you had a good reason to, that you're not a dangerous killer. Out of everyone in the universe, there's no one I trust more than Finn. So, if he says you're cool than you're cool." Raven smiled.

Raven turned back in her seat facing her desk then Finn walked into the tent. Spencer gave him a small smile and walked out of the tent, sighing in relief.

_That definitely had the chance to blow up in my face and ruin my chance of becoming friends with Raven, thankfully it didn't blow up in my face._

Unlike Spencer's conversation with Raven, something did kind of blow up. The food shack.

Finn, Raven, and Spencer rushed over to the giant fire hazard. "Oh my god, Murphy, are you okay?" Spencer rushed over and asked him as soon as she saw him. Murphy nodded angrily in reply.

"This is all your fault." Murphy said to some dude before he got up and started a fight with said dude. "We told you it was too much wood!" Murphy yelled and punched him.

Before Spencer could intervene, Bellamy stepped up and broke up the fight. "Well, now what the hell are we gonna do? That was all the food!" Octavia said.

While everyone dispersed, Bellamy and Clarke stayed behind to look through the debris. Spencer listening to the conversation, it didn't sound to promising until Clarke brought up hunting.

Spencer was surprised when Bellamy didn't force her to go hunting since Clarke said that anyone they could spare goes, _they could definitely spare me, but I wasn't asked._

_Now I kinda regret not volunteering to hunt, everyone was doing something but me._

Spencer decided to check up on Raven and Monty just to pass the time. Spencer asked Raven if she needed help making walkie talkies but being the superhuman she is, she politely declined Spencer's help. Then Spencer remembered that Murphy is still in the camp thankfully.

Spencer walked up to him and saw he was carrying a couple of makeshift fishing pole. "Hey, Murph, what're up to?"

"Murph?" He chuckled.

Spencer shrugged. "Just thought I'd test it out. Doesn't really sound right."

"Well, to answer your question, I've taken the liberty of going fishing. Since everyone else is going hunting with their guns and spears, I myself will have a fishing pole."

"You? Fishing?" Spencer chuckled.

"I at least have to try. Wanna join? Gotta earn out keep somehow, although it seems like you have better chances than I do."

"I've got nothing better to do." Spencer grabbed a fishing pole.

"Well, shall we?" Murphy gestured. Spencer just giggled and nodded.

The hike to the river didn't take too long, it was a good thing that it was close their camp. It also helped to know where they were going, and Spencer found the walk rather pleasant.

She and Murphy conversed and joked around as they walked, but Spencer noticed that he seemed a little off.

_I wonder if it was because of what we did to Connor._

Spencer didn't really think they had anything to be worried about, when whoever found Connor dead, they just thought that the virus got him.

When they finally got to the river, they chose a spot and started fishing. It took a while but Spencer finally got the hang of it, Murphy took a little longer.

Spencer thought Murphy looked cute whenever he got frustrated when a fish got away.

Every time Murphy lost a fish, Spencer would laugh at him and then he'd threaten to push her into the water, which only made her laugh harder.

Spencer eventually got tired of standing and sat down beside Murphy, both of them waiting to catch something. "Hey, Murphy?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you okay? You seem a bit, I don't know, off?"

"Why would you think that?" He asked.

"I don't know, I guess I'm just worried that you're regretting what happened last night."

"No, definitely not. Do you?"

"Nope, not really." Spencer smirked. Murphy nodded.

After catching couple fish, it went back to a comfortable silence they were in before. "Spencer, do you hate Bellamy?"

"Uh, I don't know. I definitely hate his cocky and arrogant attitude." Spencer chuckled.

"If your father was still alive, would you try to kill him?"

Before Spencer could answer Murphy's question, she got a strong tug on her line. Almost knocking her over in the process. She and Murphy pulled on the line together and got a huge fish. "Woah, nice. Great teamwork." Spencer laughed.

"Spencer, I'm going to kill Bellamy." Murphy said out of nowhere.

"What? Why?" Spencer almost yelled.

"Why?" Murphy laughed bitterly. "I thought you'd understand that." He sighed. "He hanged me, Spence. Banished me, even tried to kill us. He'll never let me stay at camp, you know that."

"Murphy, we've only been back for like two days. You can't except him to forgive and forget. We need time to earn his trust back."

"Yeah, that might be easy for you to say. He doesn't hate you."

"Murphy, please. Just give it some time before you make any harsh decisions. If you do this now, you will get yourself killed. Please." Spencer begged.

"Fine." Murphy said.

Spencer sighed in relief and hugged him, but he didn't hug back. "Okay, we should uh, we should get back." Spencer said and picked up some fish they caught.

Murphy nodded in agreement and did the same.

The walk back wasn't as pleasant as the walk from the camp. The whole way back was just full of tense silence, Spencer could almost feel the anger radiating off of Murphy.

_Hopefully he doesn't do something stupid, for his survival at least._

They got back a little after it got dark and started working on gutting the fish, which Spencer thought was absolutely disgusting.

After a few minutes of gutting fish in silence expect for the occasional chatter from a few delinquents, the hunters finally came back. Everyone except Myles, Clarke, and Finn.

Raven ran up to Spencer. "Spencer, Finn's group still hasn't made it back yet. We're gonna go search for them. I figured you'd want to go."

"Yeah, of course. Let me grab me gear." Spencer said, cleaning her hands of fish guts and rushing to grab her stuff. Spencer raced to catch up with Raven, but Bellamy stopped her.

"Woah, where do you think you're going?" Bellamy asked.

"Uh, I'm going to help you guys search for Finn."

"No, you're staying here. We don't need you."

"Finn's my friend. I need to be in this search party!"

"I said no. Finn would understand that you care more about Murphy and wanted to stay behind." Bellamy teased. "Let's go guys!" He shouted to the group that was going after Clarke and Finn. Bellamy knew he probably shouldn't have said that, but he was still pissed at Spencer for leaving.

Spencer scoffed and went back to Murphy. "I thought you were going to search for Finn?" Murphy asked.

"Bellamy didn't let me. Killing him doesn't sound too shabby right now." Spencer said, sitting down.

Murphy was shocked. "Wait, are you serious?" He asked, trying not to sound too happy.

Spencer sighed. "No. But, my god, he pisses me off."

"Yeah, he tends to do that." He chuckled.

After a long pause of silence, Spencer voiced the thoughts she was having. "When or if the Ark comes down, do you think they'll kill me?"

Murphy froze and slowly put down the fish he was gutting and sat next down to Spencer. "I don't think to. I mean, the Chancellor did say that all of our crimes are pardoned."

"But I killed my father three days before we got sent down and the council were already thinking about floating me." Spencer paused, "Also, Bellamy told me that if the Ark came down, they'd kill us. That was before I went to find you."

"Bellamy's an asshole. He just told you that to get you to do his bidding. He doesn't seem too worried about the Ark coming down now. And plus, do you really think the council would put you on the dropship if they really wanted to float you?"

Spencer suddenly thought back to what Raven told her this morning, but she didn't want to discuss it anymore. "Yeah, you're right. I just to stop over thinking stuff I guess." Spencer forced a smile.

"You should probably get some sleep. You look exhausted." Murphy said and gave Spencer a small smile.

"Sounds great." Spencer got up and started walking, but turned around. "What about you?"

"Ah, nah, not right now. I'll be there soon though." Murphy said.

Spencer thought he was nervous about something. But against her better judgement, and her heavy eyelids, she decided to brush it off and headed to her tent to get some shut eye.

Eventually, Murphy headed back to his tent and saw that Spencer was already asleep and started walking to her but quickly stopped.

His natural instinct was to lay next to her, which confused him and he went to his own cot and laid down.

He looked over to Spencer, she looked so peaceful when she slept. Some of her dark brown hair fell over her face. Murphy was so confused about his feelings. He wasn't the type to express them. But around Spencer, he felt comfortable.

He hated it. He hated feeling emotionally vulnerable, but he couldn't help it around her. Murphy sighed and tried to fall asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~


	9. We Are Grounders: Part 1

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

It was a very late night for Spencer. She felt she only got two hours of sleep before Raven woke her up so she could help set up landmines and foxholes to prepare for the oncoming war against the Grounders.

Spencer was helping Jasper set up a landmine while Raven and Bellamy were busy bickering with each other.

Raven made a point to mention that they were going to go after Finn, Clarke, and Monty in the morning. But Bellamy refused, making Spencer sigh.

All of a sudden, Sterling shot his gun startling everyone and making Bellamy pissed off. Turns out Sterling fell asleep from being on watch all day, making Bellamy even more pissed.

"Bell, you're scaring people." Octavia said.

"They should be scared!" Bellamy yelled and turned to the group. "The bomb on the bridge bought us some time to prepare, but that time is up! The Grounders are out there right now, waiting for us to leave and picking us off one by one when we do! Clarke, Finn, and Monty are gone. Probably dead. And if you want to die next, I can't stop you, but no guns are leaving this camp! This camp is the only thing keeping us alive!"

"Get back to work!" Bellamy yelled out of breath and stormed off, leaving everyone speechless.

After helping setting things up, Jasper and Spencer went back to the dropship, where unfortunately Bellamy was.

Bellamy rolled his eyes when he saw them giving him a cold glare. "Don't you think I want to go after them, too?" Bellamy asked Jasper.

"If it was you out there, you think Monty, Clarke, Finn, or hell, even Spencer would hide behind these walls?" Jasper asked, making Spencer feel tense.

"No. They'd go after me, then they'd be dead too." Bellamy said, earning a scoff from Jasper. "I am doing what I think is right for the group."

"It's funny, you didn't think that way when Octavia or even Spencer over here went missing." Jasper said.

Spencer found it so weird to hear that Bellamy tried looking for her by everyone, since he's given her the cold shoulder ever since she got back to camp with Murphy.

"Where are you going?" Bellamy asked Jasper in an authoritive tone when Jasper went to climb the ladder to the second floor of the dropship.

"More gunpowder for your minefield...sir." Jasper said, fake saluting him and climbing the ladder, leaving Bellamy and Spencer alone.

"So, I keep hearing people say that you went looking for me when Octavia went missing as well." Spencer said, looking up at Bellamy.

"Yeah. What of it?" Bellamy said coldly.

"Well, I thought you'd be more friendly to me when I got back."

"Then I saw you with Murphy, that changed things." Bellamy went to walk away but Spencer grabbed his arm.

"Why? Murphy's my friend."

"Murphy's dangerous. He only brings trouble wherever he goes. You'd be wise not to hang around him anymore." He warned her.

Myles started asking for water, so Bellamy left the dropship to get him some. Then Murphy came out of nowhere. "Sounds like Bellamy is jealous." He smirked.

"I wouldn't say that." Spencer smiled, but her eyes widened when she saw a plastic bag in Murphy's hands, walking towards Myles. "Murphy, what are you doing?" She whisper-yelled.

"Getting justice, what's it look like?" Murphy glared. "Either help me, or stay the hell out of my way." Murphy then pulled the bag over Myles' head and suffocated him.

Spencer felt conflicted. Myles didn't harm her; she didn't have any personal conflict with him but he helped hang Murphy.

Thinking these things, she totally forgot that Jasper was in there until he descended the ladder and saw Murphy and Spencer.

Murphy came up with a bullshit excuse and Jasper did not look convinced and went for the machine gun that he left on the table, but Murphy got it first.

"Murphy, just, put the gun down." Jasper said, slowly backing away.

"Myles tried to kill me." Murphy said, pointing the gun at Jasper.

Spencer slowly walked up to Murphy, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Murphy, calm down. Just put the gun down, okay?"

"You're really taking his side? After everything we've- look forget it, just back off." He started pointing the gun at Spencer, making her back up towards Jasper. "You know what'll happen to me if you tell Bellamy."

"Tell Bellamy what?" They heard from the walkie.

_Shit._

"Give me the radio, Jasper." Murphy demanded.

Jasper slowly started pulling out the radio from his pocket, only to warn Bellamy. "Murphy has a gun. He killed Myles." Jasper said quickly before Murphy pushed Spencer out of the way and grabbed the radio from Jasper and knocked him out, and closing the dropship door.

"Murphy! What the hell are you doing?" Spencer yelled.

"You try to be a hero," Murphy turned to look at Spencer, "Jasper and Spencer die!" He yelled out to Bellamy. Murphy started to drag Jasper to the ladder and started tying him up there.

"Murphy..." Spencer whispered.

"Don't act so surprised, Spencer. You betrayed me, so I betray you." He said, walking over to Spencer.

"Betray? I just didn't want you to shoot Jasper!"

Murphy ignored her and grabbed her arm, tying her up next to Jasper. Spencer didn't fight against him, knowing it'll just do more harm. She felt tears prick her eyes as Murphy was tying her up.

Murphy looked up at Spencer and stared into her eyes with a frown. Seeing her eyes gloss over almost made him question everything he was doing.

Spencer saw his eyes soften. Murphy almost lifted his hand to caress her face before they heard Octavia yell at Murphy. Murphy's face hardened again and he stepped away from Spencer as Jasper was waking up.

"Murphy, I know you can hear me. All our ammo and food is on the middle level. You know that. You're leaving us vulnerable to an attack. I can't let that happen." Bellamy said through the radio.

"Yeah, well, in case you haven't noticed, you're not exactly in control right now." Murphy teased.

"Come on, Murphy. You don't wanna hurt Jasper. And I know for a fact that you don't want to hurt Spencer. You want to hurt me." Bellamy paused, "So, what do you say? How about you trade them for me? Look all you have to do is let them go, and I'll take their place."

Murphy smirked. "How?"

"Simple. You open the door. I walk in, they walk out."

Murphy looked at Jasper and Spencer for a minute before untying Jasper, but not Spencer. Spencer gave Murphy a curious look before he opened the dropship door.

"Just you, Bellamy, unarmed!" Murphy yelled out. "Ten seconds, or I'll put one in Jasper's leg!" Murphy started counting down. Bellamy rushed in and pushed Jasper out.

"I said Jasper AND Spencer." Bellamy glared at Murphy, who was holding Bellamy at gunpoint. "I give you an order and you follow it."

While they were bickering, Spencer heard muffled voices below her. It sounded like Raven and Jasper; they were going to help them. Spencer jumped when she heard the gunshot Murphy had shot towards Bellamy.

"Bellamy?" They heard Octavia said over the radio.

Murphy smirked and picked it up when Octavia kept yelling into the mic. "You want her to know you're still alive? Start tying." Murphy held out the radio towards Bellamy.

"I'm fine. Just a misfire. Now stop worrying about me and get back to work, all of you...and tell Raven to hurry her ass up." Bellamy said and looked over to Spencer.

She nodded downwards to indicate to Bellamy that Raven was down below the dropship. He looked relieved until Murphy started talking again.

"Tie those two ends together." Bellamy started shakily tying the noose. "All right. Now get up and toss it over."

"Murphy, stop!" Spencer yelled. "This has gone way too far!"

 _Please, don't start begging, Spencer,_ Murphy thought.

"What do you want me to say?" Bellamy asked once he threw the noose around a beam. "You want me to apologize? I'm...I'm sorry."

"You got it all wrong, Bellamy. I don't want you to say anything. I want you to feel what I felt, and then...then I want you to die."

While they were talking, Spencer was working on getting those stupid knots loose so she could help Bellamy, and she was so close to getting untied. Murphy then told Bellamy to get on a stool and stand on it, which he obeyed. "Put the noose over your head."

"Murphy, please stop! Please!" Spencer begged.

Murphy couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed whatever piece of cloth he could find and shoved it in Spencer's mouth.

Spencer tried to bite Murphy, but he removed his hand too fast. "This is insane. The Grounders could-" Bellamy started until Murphy fired a warning shot.

"Put it over your head." Murphy ordered.

Bellamy obeyed. "Happy now?" Murphy pulled on the noose.

"You're so brave, aren't you?" Murphy started. "I mean, you came in here thinking you're just gonna turn this whole thing around, that you were stronger than me, and maybe one of your friends would come and help you. Well, what are you thinking now, Bellamy?"

Murphy started pulling at Bellamy's noose, choking him. Spencer kept trying to beg Murphy to stop, but with the cloth in her mouth, she could only make muffled noises.

"You know, I gotta hand it to ya, Bellamy. You got them all fooled. They actually look up to you, almost as much as they look up to Clarke. Yeah, well, we know the truth, don't we? You're a coward. I learned that the day you kicked out that crate from beneath me. Isn't that what you said? That you were only giving the people what they wanted, right? The only person who had the balls to stand up for me was Spencer, then she got punished for that too."

"I should've stopped them." Bellamy said.

"Yeah, it's a little late for that now."

"How does this end for you, Murphy? You think they're just gonna let you walk out of here?" Bellamy asked.

"Well, I think the princess is dead, but I know the King's about to die, so who's really going to lead these people, huh? Me, that's who, and, yeah, maybe I'll have to kill your Grounder-pounding little sister." Bellamy started to kick at Murphy, which made him pull on Bellamy's noose.

Spencer felt the knots come undone, and she knew that this was her chance. She quickly got up and pushed Murphy off the rope. Murphy looked at her in shock before they heard a scream from below the floor.

It caught Spencer off guard which gave Murphy the upper hand and he hit Spencer in the head with the butt of his gun, knocking her to the floor.

"I'm guessing that's her right now." Murphy said. He grabbed his gun and started shooting up the floor.

"No!" Spencer and Bellamy shouted in unison.

Murphy ran out of bullets and kicked the stool from underneath Bellamy, who was clawing for air.

Spencer tried getting up but her whole world was spinning. Murphy tried to bind Bellamy's hands together, but the doors opened. Murphy quickly panicked and grabbed Spencer and hoisted her up the ladder.

"Murphy, what the hell are you doing?" Spencer yelled at him when she gained better consciousness.

Murphy ignored her and kept frantically looking for some way out of the situation. They heard Bellamy yell at Murphy. Spencer was relieved that Bellamy was alive, but that also meant that Murphy was in danger.

Murphy then spotted their gunpowder, and he placed it near the wall. "Spencer, you helped me kill Connor. You should come with me."

"Seriously? After all you did today? You almost killed Bellamy!"

"I thought you didn't care about him! I would've succeeded if it wasn't for you!" Murphy yelled.

Spencer saw the hatch almost open; Bellamy was about to come through. "Look, Murphy. I want you to be safe. Do what you have to do, but...I'm not coming with you."

Murphy almost looked hurt, then he shot the gunpowder, creating a large hole in the wall. He went to jump out, but stopped.

Murphy turned around and stomped towards Spencer, making her afraid he was going to hurt her but he did something that shocked both of them.

Murphy gently grabbed Spencer's face with both hands and kissed her forehead. After a few seconds, Murphy pulled away and jumped out of the dropship as soon as Bellamy broke through the hatch.

"Murphy!" Bellamy yelled. Bellamy walked past Spencer and looked out the hole in the wall to see Murphy running away.

"Guy sure knows how to make an exit. Should we go after him?" Jasper asked.

"No, the Grounders will take care of Murphy. We're going after Clarke, Finn, and Monty." Bellamy turned to Spencer. "You! Why didn't you stop him?" She stayed silent. Bellamy sighed. "Did you help him kill Myles?"

"No, I didn't. I didn't want any of this to happen, Bellamy."

Bellamy could tell she was being sincere and nodded, then went to leave the dropship. "Raven stays here to build up defenses. We lost a day because of this, and our gunpowder."

"Bellamy, wait!" Jasper called out. He then hesitantly hugged Bellamy, warming Spencer's heart at the sight. "Long way from whatever the hell we want."

Bellamy smiled at Jasper.

"All gunners! We got movement outside the South wall!" Miller said over the radio. The trio all gave each other a look and rushed out of the dropship.

They opened the gate and Clarke and Finn ran in, shocking everyone. "We heard an explosion. What happened?" Clarke asked as soon as she got to them.

Spencer saw Finn and ran to him, trapping him in a hug. "God, I almost thought you were dead!" Spencer cried. "Don't scare me like that, dick!" Spencer punched him in the shoulder.

Finn briefly smiled at her before he turned back on his serious face. "Clarke, we need to leave. All of us do! There's an army of Grounders, unlike anything we've ever seen, coming for us right now. We need to pack what we can and run."

"Like hell we do. We knew this was coming." Bellamy said.

"Bell, we're not prepared!" Octavia said.

"And they're not here yet. We still have time to get ready. Besides, where would we go? Where would we be safer than behind these walls?"

"There's an ocean to the east. People there will help us." Finn commented.

"You saw Lincoln." Octavia smiled.

"You expect us to trust a Grounder?" Bellamy asked. "This is our home now. We built this from nothing with our bare hands! Our dead are buried behind that wall in this ground. Our ground! The Grounders think they can take that away. They think that because we came from the sky, we don't belong here. But they're yet to realize one very important fact: we are on the ground now, and that means we are Grounders!"

"Bellamy's right." Clarke started. "If we leave, we may never find a place as safe as this. And God knows, in this world, we could be faced with something worse tomorrow. But that doesn't change the simple fact that is if we stay here, we will die to tonight. So, pack your things. Just take what you can carry, now."

Everyone dispersed to pack their things, then they heard someone call out for help. Raven. They all ran towards her in a hurry. "Murphy shot her." Jasper said.

"Get her into the dropship." Clarke urged.

Finn carried her, while Jasper and Spencer followed closely behind.

_If I ever see Murphy again, he'll be sorry if Raven dies._

~~~~~~~~~~


	10. We Are Grounders: Part 2

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

They all rushed into the dropship, carrying a bleeding out Raven. They set her down on a table and Clarke went to work.

Finn and Spencer held Raven's hands as Clarke cauterized her wound to stop the external bleeding. Seeing it happen again, it made Spencer's shoulder ache.

"I don't understand. How did Murphy get a gun?" Finn asked.

"Long story." Bellamy said and glared at Spencer, causing her to sigh and roll her eyes.

"You wanna say something, buddy?" She asked annoyed.

"You had the chance to stop him and you didn't."

"If I stopped him, you would've killed him!"

"You say that like it would be a bad thing." Bellamy replied coldly.

"Enough." Raven said weakly, "we got lucky. If Murphy hit the fuel tank instead of me, we'd all be dead."

"Wait, there's rocket fuel down there? Enough to build a bomb?" Clarke asked.

"Enough to build a hundred bombs. If we had any gunpowder left."

"Let's get back to the Reapers." Bellamy said. "Maybe they'll help us. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?"

"Not this enemy. We saw them. Trust me, it's not an option." Clarke said.

"There's no time for this. Can Raven walk or not?" Finn interrupted.

"No. We have to carry her."

"The hell you will. I'm good to go." Raven said, about to get up from the table.

"Hey, listen to me. That bullet is still inside you. If by some miracle, there's not internal bleeding, it might hold until we get somewhere safe. But you are not walking there. Is that clear?" Clarke said sternly. Raven reluctantly nodded.

"I'll get the stretcher." Finn said.

"Can't run away fast enough, huh?" Bellamy teased. "Real brave."

Finn stormed back over. "Dying in a fight you can't win isn't brave, Bellamy, it's stupid."

"Spoken like every coward who's ever run from a fight." Bellamy retorted.

"Guys, that's enough. Chill out." Spencer said.

"Spencer's right. It's time to go." Clarke said.

"If they follow? It's a 120 mile walk to the ocean." Bellamy said.

"Look, we're wasting time. If he wants to stay, he can stay." Finn said and walked out of the dropship, with Spencer trailing behind.

"Finn, wait!" Spencer called out. Finn stopped and let her catch up to him. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah. Bellamy can be so naïve. It drives me crazy." Finn said and continued walking.

"I think he just wants to do what's best for the group."

"Since when do you take his side? You know, he blames you for what happened with Murphy." Spencer sighed and nodded. "What's going on with you and Murphy anyway?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. I'm pissed at him for shooting Raven."

"There's more reasons to be pissed at him other than shooting Raven. He killed Myles and Charlotte. He doesn't deserve any friends." Finn ranted.

Spencer scoffed. "He didn't kill Charlotte, Finn. You forget that she murdered Wells. She just paid the price for it."

Finn looked at Spencer in horror. "How could you say that? She was just a little girl! Jesus, you've changed Spencer."

"Yeah, that's what happens when your only friend in the universe ditches you and forces you to deal with your father's abuse alone!" Spencer yelled, feeling tears prick her eyes. _I shouldn't have said that._

Finn's eyes softened. "Shorty, I-"

"Don't bother. We have to get this stretcher to Raven. Come on." Spencer sniffled.

They brought the stretcher back to Raven in silence. Clarke stopped Spencer before they started walking out. "Wait, here, you probably need this." She handed Spencer a gun.

"I didn't think you'd trust me enough with one."

"You made a mistake. But if you betray us again, I won't hesitate to kill you." Clarke smiled.

Spencer grinned and took the gun. "Thank you, Clarke." Spencer said and walked back to Finn and Raven.

Finn and some other boy helped carry Raven, while Spencer walked beside her. They walked out the safety of their camp and began their long trek to the ocean.

It wasn't long till people started to talk, specifically Nathan Miller. "You know that first thing I'm gonna do when we get to the beach?" He started asking.

"No, what?" Jasper asked.

"I wanna go surfing." Miller said, causing Spencer to let out a couple of chuckles. But Jasper wanted to be a buzzkill and told Miller to be quiet. But the guy next to Miller kept talking until Octavia stopped them.

"Why are we stopping?" Raven asked.

"I don't know." Finn said, and Spencer shrugged.

Suddenly, the boy next to Miller got a knife thing thrown into his head. Scaring all of them, and Jasper yelled, "Grounders!"

Everyone started running back to camp. The guy helping carry Raven took off in fear, so Finn and Spencer had to rush Raven back, making Spencer's shoulder ache from the weight.

Once they made it back, Finn ordered two guys to carry Raven into the dropship. Making Spencer exhale in relief once she wasn't carrying Raven anymore.

"Hey, you alright? Do you need me to take that?" Finn asked about the gun that Spencer was barely hanging onto.

"Nope, I'm good." Spencer said in a strained voice, not really sounding believable, but Finn left it alone.

"Lincoln said the scouts would be the first to arrive." Clarke called out to Octavia.

"If it's just scouts, we can fight our way out. That's Lincoln would do."

"We're done doing what that Grounder would do. We tried and now Drew is dead. You wanna be next?" Bellamy said.

"That Grounder saved our lives. I agree with Octavia. For all we know, there's one scout out there." Finn said.

"One scout with insanely good aim." Jasper added.

"Clarke, we can still do this." Octavia said.

"Looking to you, princess. What's it gonna be? Run and get picked off in the open, or stand and fight back?" Bellamy asked.

Clarke sighed and started walking away before Finn stopped her. "Clarke, if we're still here when Tristian gets here-"

"Lincoln said scouts. More than one. He said, get home before the scouts arrive. Finn, they're already here." Clarke turned to Bellamy. "Looks like you've got your fight."

"Okay, then. This is what we've been preparing for. Kill them before they kill us! Gunners, to your posts! Use the tunnels to get in and out. From now on, the gates stay closed." Bellamy ordered. "Hey, Spence, we need you in a foxhole. Can you do that?"

Spencer was a bit taken aback by his request, but she nodded and followed the rest of the gunners. But before she could, Finn stopped her. "Hey, be careful alright? I can't lose my best friend."

Spencer smiled. "You won't lose me. I'll be fine. It'll be a bitch shooting this gun, but I can deal. You be careful too, Finn." She said and pulled him into a tight hug.

Spencer ended up being in a foxhole with Miller, Octavia, and Monroe. Keeping their guns up and eyes open for any Grounders. It was silent, only the sound of chirping birds and the muffled voices inside the camp could be heard. Once in a while, Bellamy would check in but their answer would always be the same, they saw nothing.

The sun set quickly, but then they heard it. The sound of drums in the distance. "I'll be back." Octavia said.

"Wait, O. Where are you going?" Spencer called after her, but she didn't answer.

A few minutes later, Bellamy entered their little hideout and posted up in between Miller and Spencer. "Where's Octavia?"

"She left five minutes ago. Didn't say where to. She thinks she's a damn samurai." Miller said, still focused on the woods.

"You see anything?" Bellamy asked them.

"Nothing so far." Spencer said.

"No. What the hell are they waiting for?" Monroe expressed.

"The longer they wait, the better. This is about buying time for Raven." Bellamy said.

"Buying time for what?" Spencer asked. But before Bellamy could answer her, they heard Sterling's voice over the radio.

"I see them. They're moving!" Then they heard gunshots.

"Who the hell was that?" Spencer asked.

"Sterling, I think. South foxhole." Miller answered.

"South foxhole, report." Bellamy said over the radio.

"Yeah, yeah. We're okay. They didn't attack. It's like shooting at ghosts."

"There!" Monroe said. "I see them!" She yelled and Miller and her started shooting at them.

"Shooting at ghosts..." Spencer mumbled, almost figuring out something before Bellamy started yelled again.

"Stop! Stop. Hold your fire! Reload. Now." Bellamy ordered.

"Those were our last clips." Miller said.

"We should, we should fall back." Monroe said.

"No. If this position falls, they'll walk right in through the front door." Bellamy said. After a few minutes, they heard Clarke call Jasper into the dropship. Bellamy grabbed the radio, "Negative. We can't give up the West woods."

"The West woods are mined, Bellamy. The Grounders just figured that out. Jasper, get in here." Clarke commanded.

They all kept shooting any Grounders that came across their path, but Spencer thought Sterling was right. It was like shooting at ghosts. Then Spencer realized, "Holy shit."

"What?" Bellamy asked.

"They're getting us to waste our ammo." Spencer looked over at Bellamy to see he had the same expression as her, and he was about to call it out into the radio but Jasper figured it out and said it first.

"Jasper's right. Don't fire until you're sure it's an attack. Repeat, do not fire until you are sure." Bellamy put down the radio and turned to Spencer. "Good work." He said and turned back.

Suddenly, they heard screaming from the radio and the path became swarmed with Grounders. "Here they come!" Miller yelled.

They all started shooting but Monroe bailed with Miller calling after her. Leaving him, Spencer, and Bellamy behind. Grounders overtook their foxhole and fought them, stabbing Miller with a spear and Bellamy and Spencer fighting one on with them.

Bellamy was getting his ass handed to him by a Grounder while Spencer was getting pinned down by one, with his sword swinging down at her.

Spencer managed to dodge his blow but then he punched her and was about to deliver a fatal blow before a sword went through his mouth, making blood spray all over her face. Spencer pushed the now dead Grounder off and saw Octavia doing the same to the Grounder fighting Bellamy. "Admit it. You guys want one." Octavia teased, referring to her sword.

Suddenly, an arrow hit Octavia's leg. "No!" Spencer yelled and got up to help Octavia.

Bellamy ordered Miller and Spencer to fall back. "No, I'm going to help you." Spencer insisted. Bellamy decided to let her help and asked Octavia if she could walk and she nodded but Bellamy picked her up off the ground and beckoned Spencer to follow.

Bellamy and Spencer rushed to get Octavia inside but stopped when they came across the Grounders fighting who she guessed were the Reapers. "Who the hell is that?" Octavia asked.

"I don't know, but they're distracted." Bellamy said, putting Octavia down. "Okay, let's move."

"We'll never make it. You guys leave me. I'll find another way."

"What? No way." Spencer protested.

"I'm not going anywhere without you." Bellamy said to his injured sister.

Spencer instinctively raised her gun when she saw a Grounder coming their way. "Spencer, no, stop!" Bellamy told her, reaching over and lowering her gun.

She heard Octavia say Lincoln and saw them embrace. _This must be her Grounder boyfriend._ "You did this?" Bellamy asked.

"With Finn?" Lincoln nodded.

"With Finn? What did you guys do?" Spencer asked, confused. The Grounder ignored her and examined Octavia's leg, that still had an arrow in it.

"They brought the Reapers here." Bellamy told Spencer. _Ugh, Finn, that prick. He never tells me anything._

"It's deep." Lincoln said. "I can help you, but you have to come with me now."

"Go." Bellamy said, causing Spencer and Octavia to look at him in shock. "Let him help you."

"No, I have to see this through." Octavia begged.

"You can't walk and I can't get you back to the dropship." Bellamy argued.

"He's right. This fight is over for you." Lincoln said.

Octavia sighed in anger. "O, listen to me. I told you my life ended the day you were born. The truth is, it didn't start until then. So, go with him. I need you alive. Besides, we got this."

Octavia pulled him into a hug. "I love you, big brother."

"May we meet again." Bellamy and Octavia said to each other before Lincoln picked her up and carried her off.

Bellamy and Spencer crouched down and watched as the Grounders killed the Reapers and charged to the gates. "Bell, how are we gonna get through the gates?" Spencer asked, a little panicked.

"No idea." He sighed. But they both took off in the direction of the gates anyway.

Spencer and Bellamy ran as fast as they could and managed to sneak back into the camp through their tunnels. "Bellamy, Spencer, run!" They heard Clarke yell.

Bellamy picked up an unused gun and tried shooting but to no avail, the gun was empty and so was Spencer's. She tried helping Bellamy against the Grounder that was hurting him but the Grounder knocked her on her back with one swift kick to the stomach.

Finn came to Spencer and Bellamy's rescue and shot and tackled the Grounder.

More and more Grounders came flooding in when Spencer finally made it back on her feet, and jumped on the back of a Grounder that was about to kill Finn. The Grounder threw her off and was about to chop her head off but Bellamy picked up a spear and stabbed the Grounder through the torso and helped Spencer up.

"Spencer, come on, we gotta move! Clarke's gonna blow this place up any minute!" Finn yelled and rushed her out of camp.

They suddenly heard a loud boom and blood curdling screams and felt heat creeping up on them, but Finn was quick to push themselves behind a tree and the flames went past them, just barely scorching their hair.

For a spilt second, Spencer thought it was finally over. Until a Grounder snuck up behind them, then her whole world went black.

~~~~~~~~~~  
 **And that's it for season 1👏👏👏**


	11. A Memory

_Italics = Spencer's POV_

Warning: Mentions of abuse

~~~~~~~~~~

_Life...isn't that great._

_I decided that it sucks after helplessly watching my mom taking hit after hit from my father without fighting back. She's kind, too kind. She doesn't deserve this. And I'm all alone, and the only person who I thought cared about me ditched me._

_Life's funny like that I guess._

_It's time to wake up. I punch my stupid alarm clock off to silence its excessive beeping._

_I reluctantly got out of bed and got ready for school, and I could already hear my father's drunken yelling; yelling at my mom for god knows what. I quickly dodged my parents, not wanting to get into their useless argument._

_Getting to school on the Ark was a chore, especially since our little dorm was far away from where the classes were._

_When I arrived at class, the first person I saw was my best friend, or should I say my ex best friend. He ditched me for a girl named Raven._

_I won't lie and say it didn't sting, because it did. It really did._

_We always used to sit next to each other in Earth skills, now there's just an empty seat next to me. But Wells Jaha, the Chancellor's kid, sat next to me. Nobody really liked him, but I try to be nice to everyone._

_Finally, after many classes about the history of Earth and other regular subjects, really boring, it was time to leave and go home. Unfortunately._

_School was the only time I could be away from home. I used to stay over at Finn's all the time, but then, yeah..._

_I slowly trudged down the long hallways and corridors to my little home in space, trying to savor the moments when I didn't have to listen to my parents scream at each other._

_The long walks from school are the best parts of my day now._

_As soon as I approached the door, I could already hear muffled yells from behind the door. I sighed and braced myself for the yells I was gonna get for not being home on time, not that I ever cared._

_When I opened the door, I was hit with the strong odor of moonshine and was harshly grabbed and pulled inside by my arm._

_"What the hell did I tell you about coming home late?" My father yelled at me. His warm, rancid breath hitting my face, causing me to cringe in disgust._

_I glanced over to my mom, who had tears in her eyes, silently begging for her to intervene. "Hey!" He snapped his fingers in my face. "Look at me when I'm talking to you, little shit."_

_"Eric, that's enough!" My mom yelled._

_"Linda, you need to tell our daughter that she needs to treat me with respect!"_

_They kept yelling at each other, making my head hurt. "Stop! Stop it!" I yelled, which caused my father to do something he'd never done before._

_My face suddenly stung as I heard a loud slap and temporarily blacked out. I lost my balance and fell to the floor. I look up in shock, in shock of what had just happened._

_I had never seen my mom that angry before._

_She broke his arm. My mom broke my father's freaking arm. But she didn't stop there. I could barely see facial features on my father by the time the guards came._

_The guards broke open the door, and they were stunned. "Arrest her!"_

_Despite my protests, the guards went and harshly grabbed my mom and dragged her away._

_They must've thought my father was the victim, since he was on the floor with a bone sticking out of his arm._

_The doctor fixed his arm, and on the walk back, my father stopped and grabbed my shoulder. "You tell anyone about this, you interfere in any way. I'll beat you, just like your mother. Understand?"_

_Being only 11, I was terrified and didn't know any better. So, I nodded._

_The next day, my father was called in to state what had happened. Of course, he lied._

_He said that my mom had been emotionally abusive for quite some time and the only time she got violent was last night._

_She was to be floated._

_My mom stated her claim too, but since she hadn't reported him before, she wasn't believed. It didn't help that my father had connections with one of the council members, who vouched for him._

_Watching my mother get floated was the hardest thing I ever had to do._

_She died on March 14th. It was my birthday. I was bawling. I was only allowed a hug and a few brief words._

_The last thing she told me was, "Survive. I love you so much."_

_My father was there. He pretended to be sad, even shed some tears. But I could tell he was trying to hide a few smug grins._

_After she was floated, I felt like life had no meaning anymore. I wanted to get floated myself. But then I remembered her last words to me._

_I had to go on. For her._

~~~~~~~~~~  
 **Just to give a better look into Spencer's backstory.**


	12. The 48

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

After what felt like hours, Spencer finally woke up to find Finn shaking her awake. "Are you okay, Shorty?"

Spencer sat up and rubbed her sore head. "Ugh, my head hurts like a bitch, but other than that, yeah."

"Enough talk! Get up!" A busted-up Grounder said and grabbed Finn and Spencer harshly and picked them up off the ground. Another boy was there with them but Spencer couldn't remember his name.

The Grounder tied them up to his horse's saddle and they started walking, with the delinquents having no idea where they were heading.

The Grounder kept barking orders at the kids, more specifically the boy who kept walking slow. He looked awful. He mumbled something before he collapsed to the ground, Finn already trying to help him. "He can't keep up."

The Grounder got off his horse. "I said, get on your feet."

Finn and Spencer desperately tried to get the boy to walk, but he wouldn't budge.

The Grounder then pulled his rope and slit the boy's throat. "That's one. I lost 300." The Grounder started walking towards them and they backed away, afraid the Grounder was going to kill them.

But he offered them water. "Drink. You're both lucky. I need one of you to talk to the Commander and I can't kill you when you're behaving so well." The Grounder smirked at Spencer, causing her to cringe.

After Finn let Spencer drink, the Grounder took the flask away and they were off again.

It felt like hours to Spencer and they were still not out of the woods. Her legs felt like jelly and her shoulder was aching, it's taking everything she has not to keel over. "Finn," Spencer whispered, "I don't know how much longer I can go."

"Shorty, no. You have to keep going. I won't let you give up." Finn whispered back.

"Hey!" They heard a familiar voice call out from behind. They turned and saw Bellamy, alone.

"Bellamy, get out of here!" Finn yelled.

The Grounder suddenly took off in the direction of Bellamy, dragging Finn and Spencer with the horse in the process and Spencer cried out as she felt her good shoulder pop out of socket.

Bellamy was knocked down and the Grounder got off his horse and started beating him up.

"Stop! Leave him alone!" Spencer yelled.

The Grounder tied up Bellamy to his horse and picked him up and made him walk beside the other two kids. Then the Grounder turned to Spencer and slapped her.

"Hey!" Bellamy yelled, out of breath and spitting out blood.

"Enough talking or I'll slit both your throats!" The Grounder said and went to get back on his horse.

They suddenly heard battle cries, and Sterling and Monroe came running out of the woods. But before they had the chance to save their fellow delinquents, the Grounder was shot twice.

Leaving all the kids shocked. They all looked around to see who it was and all the breath seemed to get sucked out of Spencer when Marcus Kane and other citizens of the Ark in guard uniforms came out of the woods.

"Oh, shit." Spencer said.

"We're here now." Kane said. "Everything's going to be okay." Kane whistled and more of the people from the Ark came out of the woods, including Abby Griffin and another face Spencer thought she'd never see again.

_No, no, no. He can't be here. He's supposed to be dead..._

"Spencer, are you okay?" Finn asked once he saw his friend's face turn pale. Finn looked to where she was staring and felt himself go pale as well.

They both saw Spencer's father, alive, and wearing a guard's uniform.

Spencer's vision went blurry as he made eye contact with her and smirked. Spencer didn't think. She quickly picked up the dead Grounder's sword, completely disregarding her injuries, and charged at her father.

Finn and Bellamy saw Spencer, as if everything went in slow motion, they both yelled her name. But it was muffled to Spencer, and she could only hear high pitched ringing in her ears.

Then suddenly, Spencer felt a large electric shock in her side. She was on the ground and looked up to see a guard reaching for her, and cuffing her wrists together and hoisted her up off the ground.

"Hello again, Spencer." Kane walked up to her. "We looked everywhere for you before we realized you were down here. I'm actually surprised that you've lasted this long, if I'm being honest."

Spencer couldn't speak, still recovering from the shock of everything, also the literal shock she just took. Spencer looked over and saw Finn and Bellamy bickering over her, trying to protest her arrest, but it was no use.

"Alright, let's head out." Kane ordered, and by the direction they were walking, they were walking back to the dropship.

Spencer couldn't even concentrate on anything besides the fact her father was still alive.

"You must be wondering how I'm still here, doll."

That same familiar rough voice said beside Spencer. Her eyes filled with tears as she turned to look at her horrid excuse for a father.

"You hurt me. Bad. But somehow, mostly a miracle, Abby was able to save me. Took eleven hours, but she did it." He grinned evilly.

Even after trying to hold back her tears, a few hot tears escaped Spencer's eyes. He went to reach up to wipe them away, making Spencer whimper and turn away. "Aw, it's okay, doll. Maybe you shoulda saved the mutilation for last." He smirked and walked away.

Spencer felt herself start to have a panic attack, and she would've given anything to have Murphy with her right now. Even if she's still pissed at him for shooting Raven. The man that was guarding Spencer wasn't helping either. Kane thinks that she's so dangerous that he ordered a guard on her. Finn and Bellamy tried their best to convince Kane that she wasn't dangerous, but Kane thought it was better to be safe than sorry.

The guy that was guarding Spencer eventually slacked off, and Finn quickly went to walk bedside her. "Spencer, are you okay?"

"No, no, I am not okay. I thought my father was dead but he's here and Finn... I'm scared. Kane is gonna kill me." Spencer bit her lip to try to keep herself from crying but it was no use.

Finn pulled Spencer into a tight hug when he saw the tears, and she tried not to cry out in pain. Finn had never seen Spencer so scared, and honestly, it scared him a little too. "It's gonna be okay. We'll figure it out, okay?" Spencer reluctantly nodded her head. "And we're gonna get you out of those cuffs soon, alright?"

"Hey, Finn? Do me a favor and get Bellamy over here, please."

"Uh, why?"

"Just do it."

Finn went over to Bellamy and told him that Spencer needed him, to which he raised an eyebrow but went over anyway. "What do you need?"

"When that Grounder took off on his horse, it popped my shoulder out of place. I need you to fix it."

"Why me?"

"Cause I can't do it myself and I've seen you fix dislocated joints before, and knowing Finn, he'd panic and screw it up."

Bellamy slightly chuckled and agreed. "Okay, this'll prob-"

"Yeah, yeah, just get on with it." Spencer interrupted. Bellamy quickly popped her shoulder back into place with ease, which made Spencer muffled a yelp. "Ouch..." Bellamy rolled his eyes. Finn came back over to Spencer and Bellamy, and Spencer noticed her shoulder already felt better.

Finn stayed by Spencer's side as they continued their walk to the dropship, which Spencer was thankful for.

It was only a few minutes until the group got there. Dead bodies of the delinquents were scattered across the forest floor as they walked closer to camp.

Finn and Bellamy managed to keep Spencer with them as they scouted the area. Spencer guessed since they knew the area better than the others did, Kane allowed it.

"It's too quiet." Bellamy said.

Bellamy was about to go into the camp but Kane stopped him. "We'll take it from here." Kane said. "Banks. Scanlan. You stay with them. We'll signal once we make sure it's safe."

Bellamy, Finn, and Spencer all gave each other looks of concern. After a few minutes of Bellamy pacing, they heard someone call for a stretcher. They all tried to run to the camp but the guard stopped them.

They all stood there for a moment until Finn grabbed Spencer's arm and made her follow them into their hidden tunnels that led into camp. They entered the camp and there were skeletons and burned up corpses everywhere, but no one from the 100 were to be found.

"Where is everyone?" Bellamy asked.

Spencer heard a familiar voice. Kane was holding up none other than Murphy. For the first time in a couple days, Spencer was so happy and relieved to see that he was alive. But Bellamy, not so much.

Murphy looked up and saw Spencer. The first thing he noticed about her was that she almost looked as bad as she did when she got tortured by Grounders. Her hair was mangled, face covered in dirt and old blood. If Murphy focused enough, he could almost make out tracks on her cheeks. He also noticed she was handcuffed.

Then he noticed Bellamy, marching towards him. "Bellamy, you're, uh...you're alive."

"Bellamy, no!" Spencer yelled when he attacked Murphy. She couldn't help Murphy because her hands were still handcuffed. But Kane thankfully put a stop to the fight when he ordered a guard to electrocute Bellamy.

_Ouch._

"Place him under arrest." Kane said.

"Wait. You don't understand. Murphy murdered two of our people. He shot another one. He threatened to kill Spencer and tried to hang Bellamy." Finn explained to Kane.

"I don't care. You are not animals. There are rules. Laws. You are not in control here anymore."

_I hate that Finn was all for Bellamy killing Murphy, but Kane is such an asshole._

"You only just got here, Kane." Spencer started. "You don't understand how the world works down here. You sent us down here to die. We survived on our own without your help. So, who are you to tell us that you're in charge?"

Kane glared at Spencer before he stormed over to where she was. "We are your superiors. You are all children. We are in charge now, not you. And besides, if I have my way, you won't be alive much longer to worry about it, Ms. Rolfe."

_Dick._

The guards quickly grabbed Spencer and brought her over to Bellamy, who was now also in handcuffs. Then some guards brought out Raven on a stretcher, looking extremely pale. Finn went to her. "She's lost a lot of blood. It's a miracle that she's still alive." Abby said. "There's no one else in there."

Everyone prepared to leave the dropship, while Bellamy and Spencer were still sitting in handcuffs. But Bellamy broke the silence. "That man, why'd you attack him?"

Spencer sighed. "My father."

Bellamy was shocked. "But I thought..."

"Yeah, I thought I killed him too. Somehow, I didn't."

"Sounds familiar." Bellamy chuckled shamefully. "But the wounds that he must've had, how much blood he lost. Couldn't be possible."

"How do you know how much blood he lost?" Spencer asked confused.

Bellamy tried to hide a smile. "I, uh, I was a janitor. Back on the Ark. After they took your father away, they sent me to clean up the mess."

"Huh, so that's how you knew about me." Spencer realized. "Sorry you had to see that."

Before Bellamy could say anything, Finn walked over to them. "We're leaving."

"What?" Bellamy asked. "This is where they'll come back."

"I don't think they're coming back. The Grounders took them, and you both know that. Look, we go with Kane to Alpha station. We get reinforcements. Weapons. Then we find our friends."

"One question: How many more of us will be dead by then? And you heard Kane, he wants to execute Spencer."

"They are not killing Spencer. We'll figure something out Shorty, okay? But Abby says that Raven needs surgery or she's going to die. It's time to go."

Bellamy looked to Spencer. "Finn's right. We won't let them kill you, alright?"

"Like Kane said, we're not in charge anymore. I should've seen this coming anyway, but oh well. Death always went with the territory." Spencer said grimly.

Before Bellamy could say anything, the guards came over and grabbed him and Spencer and they started walking to Alpha station. They walked a long way, but they finally got there.

When Spencer probably should've been in awe at part of the Ark being on the ground, she couldn't help but see her prison and sooner or later, the place she'd be executed.

Bellamy and Spencer were to be taken inside the Ark, but before they entered, Spencer heard someone call out her name. The voice was so easily recognizable, it made her freeze and it sent shivers down her spine. Spencer turned and saw her other best friend from the Ark.

Alex.

~~~~~~~~~~


	13. A Memory Too

_Italics = Spencer's POV_

_~~~~~~~~~~_

_Three years gone by without my mom by my side. Three years of non-stop abuse from my father. Three years of changing into the person I am today. Not friendly as I used to be. Not as caring. Not me. I guess that's what three years of torture will do to a child._

_After my mom died, I tried to go on living like I used to. I really tried, but then my father started to abuse me. In every way. And no one knows._

_I have no friends anymore. Finn completely ignores me now, always skipping class to be with his totally fabulous girlfriend._

_Ever since my personality change, everyone seems to ignore me. Not that I care. I like not being noticed. "Alex and Spencer." Wait, what?_

_I raised my hand. "Um, Mrs. Mason. What's going on?" Everyone giggled._

_"Ms. Rolfe, have you not been paying attention?" My teacher asked. I stayed silent and blushed, earning a sigh from my teacher and a few more giggles from my classmates. "You're pairing up with another student for your Earth history project."_

_Oh, right. I totally forgot about that. Oops. But who's Alex? "So, I guess we're partners?" I looked to my left to see a boy with really dark brown fluffy hair and green eyes._

_"You must be Alex." I said, mostly to myself._

_"And you must be Spencer." Alex smiled. I scoff, not really enjoying having to force myself to talk to someone. "Hmm, I have a feeling it's gonna be pretty difficult to work with you."_

_"Your projects will be due in two weeks! Class dismissed."_

_I grabbed my bag and rushed out of class, thankful that I was able to escape that conservation._

_"Hey, wait up!" The boy with green eyes called out to me. I sigh and reluctantly wait for him to catch up with me. "Man, you walk fast." He said, out of breath._

_"No, you're just slow." I said, taking off again._

_"Wait, wait, wait. Shouldn't we talk about what we're gonna do for the project? We are partners, you know."_

_I sigh once again and turn to face him. "Look, I will do all the work myself if it'll get you to leave me alone and never talk to me again. Okay?"_

_Alex just smiled, which pissed me off. "Aw, but where's the fun in that?"_

_He's so annoying. I just decided to give up. "Fine. We'll talk about it tomorrow."_

_"Shouldn't we talk about it now?"_

_"Tomorrow. Don't push me." I said and stormed off in the direction of my home._

_"It'll be a pleasure working with you!" Alex called out before I got out of earshot._

_Ugh, this'll be the worst two weeks of school ever._

_~~~~~~~~~~~_


	14. Inclement Weather

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

Warning: Parental abuse

~~~~~~~~~~

_Alex._

He looked almost exactly the same to Spencer, but more mature. He had that same fluffy hair that Spencer used to tease him about, and he still has that peach fuzz.

Spencer tried running to him. To hug him, and tell him how much she missed him, but the guards held her back and continued dragging her towards the Ark.

Spencer saw his face, his look of confusion and shock. Alex started to walk towards Spencer, but the Ark doors shut. Blocking each other's view.

The guards took Spencer, Bellamy, and Murphy to medical first, where Abby Griffin examined them. Abby examined Bellamy first, all he had were cuts and bruises. Nothing too serious.

There was an awkward silence between Spencer and Murphy. Spencer didn't talk mostly because she was still in shock seeing Alex again, but Murphy just didn't know what to say. Well, there was a lot he wanted to say, he just didn't know where he should start. But before he could get a sentence out, Bellamy was cleared and taken to a holding cell then Spencer got taken in to see Abby.

Spencer sat down in a chair in front of Abby. They had no quarrels with each other. Abby used to babysit Spencer when she was little. Abby always told Spencer's mother that Spencer was one of the most well-behaved little girls she'd ever come across, even more behaved than Clarke she'd say.

Though she never said it, Abby was heartbroken when Spencer's mother was floated. Abby was even more heartbroken when she learned that Spencer's father wasn't punished for anything.

Abby and Linda would talk all the time, even before Spencer was born. Spencer's father already showed abusive tendencies then. When Abby heard that Linda had broken his arm, she knew it was self-defense. She tried to get the council to sway their decisions, but Abby wasn't a higher up then.

Looking over Spencer now, Abby hated herself for not helping Spencer with her father. Abby had a feeling that something was wrong, but she dismissed her feelings. And now, Spencer might be killed for it.

"Haven't seen you in a long time, Mrs. Griffin." Spencer broke the silence. "You look well."

Abby let out a breathless laugh. "I wish I could say the same about you, dear."

Another pause of silence. Spencer didn't know how to converse with Abby. It was like seeing a relative after a long time. You barely remember them, but they always say stuff like, "Oh, you've grown up so much!" and you're like, "I can barely remember you dude."

On the other hand, Abby didn't know what to say to Spencer since she has been harboring so much guilt from not intervening with her and her father when she could've.

Abby noticed the puncture wound on Spencer's shoulder. It was cauterized, and thankfully not infected. Abby wondered if it was Clarke's handiwork.

Abby cleaned up some cuts on Spencer's face and changed the bandages on her almost healed finger and shoulder. "Okay, you're good to go." Abby said and a guard took Spencer away.

Spencer got taken into the holding cell where Bellamy was. Bellamy's hands weren't bound anymore, but Spencer had a feeling that hers was staying tied.

The guard pushed her inside and shut the doors. _Yup, no untied hands for me._ Spencer sighed.

"You alright?" Bellamy asked.

"Oh, yeah. Abby fixed me up real good. Unfortunately, though, my hands" Spencer held up her bound hands, "are still tied." She threw her hands back down and sat in a corner of the room.

"No need for sarcasm, Spence."

"Oh, I think it's the perfect time for sarcasm. Might as well speak my thoughts before I die."

Bellamy rolled his eyes and sighed. "You're not gonna die, Spencer. We'll convince Kane to pardon you. Okay?"

"I don't know, Bell. Kane pretty much hates me. And with my father alive to mouth off to him...I don't think there's any hope for me."

Bellamy walked over to Spencer and kneeled down in front of her, and placed a hand on her arm. "Hey, you are not dying. Well will convince Kane. But if we can't, then we'll get you out of here or die trying. You're my people, and I'd never let one of my people die if I have any say in it. Understand?"

Spencer almost teared up. "Thank you, Bellamy." They both smiled at each other before they heard the doors open, and Kane walked through.

Bellamy and Spencer got up, and Bellamy walked up to Kane. "How long are you gonna keep us locked in here?"

"Until I'm confident you're no longer a threat to others." Kane replied. Bellamy scoffed. Kane ignored him and grabbed a chair. "Let's continue. You said there were hundreds of Grounders attacking. Two, three hundred?"

"I didn't count." Bellamy snapped.

"Why do you think they attacked? What provoked them?"

"By being on the ground." Spencer said coldly.

Kane glared at Spencer. "I don't believe I was asking you, Ms. Rolfe."

"Well, I was there too." Spencer countered.

Bellamy sighed. "We're wasting time. The others didn't just vanish into thin air. They were taken, and we need to go after them."

"A search team is prepping to leave." Kane said, making Bellamy and Spencer relieved. "But not before we've gotten the intel we need from you."

Bellamy went to sit in the chair in front of Kane. "I need to be on that team. Me and Spencer both. Please."

"It's out of the question. You're not trained. It's too dangerous, and Spencer isn't going anywhere until she stands trial for her crimes."

_Yeah, like that trial is gonna be fair._

Bellamy tensed up when Kane talked about a trial, but he couldn't focus on that right now. "Those are my people out there."

"They're my people too. You want to help them? Tell me what we're up against. Grounder tactics. Their numbers. What weapons they used."

"Arrows and spears. Axes. Swords...their teeth."

"No guns?" Kane asked. Bellamy shook his head. "You had guns."

"The guns we found at the aid depot leveled the playing field. Maybe...maybe if we had more bullets, we, we could've-"

"There were more bullets." Kane interrupted. "Search team just returned from the bunker. Found two more barrels with rifles...and a third filled with bullets."

Spencer saw the look on Bellamy's face. He blamed himself. "We should've looked harder." Bellamy whispered.

Spencer was about to tell Bellamy it wasn't his fault but the doors opened, and Murphy was brought in. Spencer looked to Bellamy and already saw the frown on his face.

"What's he doing here?" Murphy and Bellamy both asked.

"Excuse me, sir. Dr. Griffin cleared Mr. Murphy out of medical." A guard told Kane.

Kane got up and Bellamy gave him a look, but Kane ignored it. "Put him over there, Major Byrne."

The guards tied Bellamy, Murphy, and Spencer up to different posts. Spencer was already tied up so she just let it happen with an annoyed look on her face.

"Well, this should be fun." Murphy said, already making the situation worse.

Then all of a sudden, gunshots and yelling could be heard from outside the Ark. Which made Spencer and Bellamy give each other worried looks and the guards run out, leaving the trio alone.

After several minutes of silence, Murphy decided he wanted to talk to Spencer. Even if Bellamy was there. "Hey, Spencer."

Spencer sighed. "Hey, Murphy."

"So, I'd imagine you're pretty angry at me, huh?"

Bellamy rolled his eyes and huffed. "Can you not do this now?"

"I wasn't talking to you, asshole." Murphy snapped.

"Murphy, of course I'm angry at you. You shot Raven and tried to kill Bellamy." Spencer finally said.

"Spence, come on. You of all people should know what the lust for revenge feels like. Bellamy deserved it."

Bellamy scoffed. "I'm right here, ya know."

"Murphy, I begged you not to hurt Bellamy. I told you what would happen if you did, but you didn't listen. Maybe we wouldn't be in this mess right now if you had just listened!" Spencer said.

"Yeah, maybe. Or maybe we'd be dead. Either way, it's done...I'm sorry, Spencer." Murphy said.

"Sorry doesn't magically fix everything, Murphy. It doesn't fix what you did to Raven."

Murphy felt even more guilty now. He never wanted to hurt Spencer, but he obviously did. Murphy decided to give up and stay silent.

Bellamy felt awkward, and annoyed. Spencer and Murphy talked about him like he wasn't even there. But what Spencer said, about her asking Murphy spare him, made his heart warm. Bellamy started to feel guilty about all the times he snapped at Spencer, but he was angry at the time.

Spencer started to feel guilty as well, for snapping at Murphy. But he deserved it, he shot Raven. Spencer knew she was going to have a hard time forgiving him for that.

All of a sudden, the trio heard screaming. A lot of painful screaming. Spencer figured it was Raven, and it made her stomach drop. _Ugh, poor Raven._

"Yeah, that was me and Spencer at the Grounder camp." Murphy started, making Spencer shiver at the thought of being back there. "I did everything I could not to scream but eventually-"

"But eventually, you broke, and you told them everything." Bellamy interrupted.

"Bellamy." Spencer whispered.

Murphy smiled. "And you wouldn't have, cause you're better than me."

"Damn right."

"It's not that simple, Bellamy." Spencer snapped.

"Seems pretty simple to me. Tell me, Spence. Who broke first, you or Murphy?" Bellamy asked. Spencer stayed silent. "See, Murphy? Even Spencer didn't tell the Grounders anything. We're not traitors. I didn't tell them where they could find us."

"And I did." Murphy said. "Yeah, I did. After they tortured me in their camp for three days. After torturing Spencer for three days, and making me watch as they did so. But go ahead. You just keep believing, even if you are in here, just like me."

It was quiet after that. Bellamy had nothing else to say, and neither did Murphy. But eventually, Spencer broke the silence. "It was my fault." She mumbled.

Bellamy's eyebrows furrowed. "What was your fault?"

"That Murphy told the Grounders everything."

Murphy stayed silent, mostly because he was in shock that Spencer would try to take the blame for him. "That doesn't make any sense, Spencer. Murphy betrayed the camp, you didn't."

"But I did. I did by being there. Murphy probably wouldn't have broke if it wasn't for me."

Murphy sighed. He didn't want to say she was right, because she was. He probably could've held out more if she wasn't there. "Seeing you, tied up to that chair...being beaten and cut. It wasn't easy."

"It wasn't exactly easy seeing you tortured either." Spencer replied.

"But you wouldn't have broken for me."

"I don't know. I probably would've."

"No. You wouldn't have. You've been through worse than some Grounder beating, right?" Murphy weakly smiled. Spencer smiled back.

But Bellamy again, was left out of the conversation and had no idea what they were talking about. But it made Bellamy wonder if he would've been strong enough to endure getting tortured by Grounders. Maybe, if he was by himself. He wouldn't have to worry about the other person.

It was hours that Spencer, Murphy, and Bellamy were locked up. Spencer wasn't even worried anymore, just bored. So bored, she played eye spy with herself. There wasn't much to spy.

Then the doors opened, and it was the last person on Earth she'd ever want to see. Her father. Spencer tensed up, and Bellamy had no idea what to do since he was tied up. "What the hell are you doing here?" Spencer asked sternly, with tears already forming in her eyes.

"Spence, you know this guy?" Murphy asked.

"Aw, can't a man see his own daughter?" Eric asked.

"Hold on. Daughter? Spencer, you told me your father was dead."

Spencer stayed silent, frozen still by the sight of her father. "Hmm." Eric chuckled. "She thought I was dead. But by the grace of God, I'm still alive."

"No...it was because I didn't stab you enough." Spencer responded coldly.

Eric smirked down at his daughter. "You have your mother's spite. It makes me sick, quite frankly." He walked up to Spencer, her unable to back away.

"Hey, leave her alone!" Murphy yelled, trying to break free of his bonds.

The man chuckled. "Is this kid your boyfriend? He's not the most handsome looking boy I've ever seen, but...he's still way out of your league." He teased.

Bellamy now started to try to break free so he could knock out this douchebag. But pulling on the ties just made it worse. Murphy was pissed off. He swore if he broke free, he'd cut that smug grin off of Eric's face. But being tied up made him more infuriated.

Eric came closer to Spencer, almost face to face. "Get the fuck away from me!" Spencer shouted, still trying to get away from him somehow.

Eric smiled evilly and wiped a piece of hair out of his daughter's face. The tears started flowing from Spencer's eyes now. She hated that she felt so weak. But Eric took so much pleasure seeing his daughter in pain.

He leaned in and whispered in her ear. "You know, you messed me up so much that I can't fuck anymore. I guess that makes you a lucky girl...but I'll still be a part of you."

Eric backed up to see the expression on Spencer's face, but all he was met with was a wad of spit in his face. "Fuck you!" Spencer yelled.

Eric slowly wiped the spit off his face and wiped it on his clothing. If it was a different situation, he'd take off his belt and whip her with it. But he just had deal with it. Eric brought up his hand and smacked Spencer with all his strength, making her head jerk to the side.

Bellamy and Murphy started calling for guards. "I wouldn't try that boys. I have some friends in high places. You'll only tire yourself out." The old man smirked.

Murphy and Bellamy felt nothing but helplessness as they watched in horror as Eric repeatedly slapped Spencer. Murphy was more vocal in his protests, more vulgar rather. Bellamy couldn't watch anymore and turned his head away.

Eventually, Eric stopped and regained his composure. "Now, doll. Look what you made me do." He smirked down at his bleeding child. "I'll visit you again soon, my darling." Eric said exited.

Spencer couldn't speak. Couldn't move. Could barely breathe. She was frozen in fear. She could barely feel the consistent flow of her tears. She could barely taste the blood pooling in her mouth, and slowly dripping onto her shirt. She could hardly hear Bellamy and Murphy trying to talk to her.

Never in her life she thought that she'd have to endure another one of her father's beatings. She was getting so used to not feeling the slap of his hand. The smell of his breath. The roughness of his voice.

It was a couple more hours until she felt something again. It was just about to be sundown. Murphy and Bellamy tried for most of that time to get Spencer to say something, even just to look at them. But to no avail.

Murphy thought he'd never want someone dead more in his entire life, and Bellamy too.

Spencer took a long shaky inhale and exhale of breath, trying to calm herself. Trying not to cry, but Spencer has never had control of her tear ducts so why should she now?

"Spencer?" Bellamy called softly. Spencer slowly turned her head towards the boys, not really making eye contact but she already knew what their facial expressions were. "Are...are you okay?"

"Jesus, does she look okay to you, Bellamy?" Murphy commented. Bellamy sighed. He knew that it was an idiotic question, but he didn't know what else to say.

"Yeah...I'm fine." Spencer whispered, barely audible.

"Spence. I'm so sorry that happened. I'm sorry that we didn't help." Murphy said.

"How could you have helped? You both were tied up, just like me." She continued to talk softly.

"We should've done more. Just...something!" Bellamy sighed.

"Bellamy. There's nothing you could've done."

Bellamy didn't have the heart to argue with her, not like this. Bellamy stayed silent. The only sound in the room was Spencer's tearful sniffles.

It soon became dark out. Spencer was still shaken by the encounter with her father, but she regained some of her strength. Only to be spooked again by the doors opening, with Finn and Monroe entering.

All Spencer's worries seemed to be blown away when she saw Finn, and she smiled. "Get up. We're going after them." Finn commanded.

Finn went to Spencer first to cut her bonds, but immediately noticed her bleeding and bruised face. "Woah, what happened to you Shorty?"

Spencer shook her head and gave him a weak smile. "Doesn't matter. Just get these damn cuffs off so we can go find our friends."

Finn didn't have time to argue so he quickly cut off her bonds, along with Bellamy's. "It's about time." Bellamy said.

"Woah, wait. What about Murphy?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah, what about me?" Murphy added.

Finn shook his head. "We don't need him. You know the way to the Grounder prison camp, right?" Bellamy asked.

"Well, yeah-"

"Then let's go." Bellamy grabbed Spencer by the wrist but she recoiled.

"No. If Murphy doesn't go, then I don't go."

Bellamy looked at Spencer, then at Murphy. He contemplated just picking the girl up and carrying her out, but then he picked up the bolt cutters that was used on the them and walked toward Murphy. "Wait, no. What are you doing?" Finn asked.

Before Bellamy answered, he leaned over and cut Murphy off of the post he was tied to, still leaving his hands tied. "He's coming with us."

"No way." Finn protested.

"He's been to the Grounder prison camp too. We could use him if Spencer doesn't remember the way."

"He's right. Okay? I can take you there." Murphy added.

Finn kept glaring at Murphy. "Hey," Monroe called out, "Sterling just signaled. Someone's coming." Finn gave up and allowed Murphy to join and they all rushed out of the holding cell.

"Spencer?" Finn asked, once we got outside of the camp's gates.

"What is it?"

"So, there's someone that really wants to see you."

"Um, who?"

Finn had a knowing smile. "You'll see." Spencer was so confused, but she trusted Finn.

"You don't think anyone saw us?" Bellamy asked, but then Finn shushed him and told him to keep it down.

The group kept walking and reached the edge of the woods where they were met with lights shined in their faces. A guard, Abby, and a familiar face was standing in front of them.

"Oh my god, Alex." Spencer said, tears coming to her eyes yet again. Alex had the same expression on his face and grinned like a small child.

Ignoring the conversation that was happening, Alex and Spencer ran at each other and trapped themselves in a bone crushing hug.

Everyone but Finn was confused, especially Murphy. He had no idea who this guy was and to be honest, it made Murphy's blood boil to see Spencer hugging him so tightly.

After what felt like a century, Spencer and Alex finally pulled away but skill keeping each other at arm's length.

"I thought I'd never see you again." Alex's soft voice told Spencer.

Spencer examined every inch of his face, as if she'd be taken away from him again. His green eyes sparkled reflecting off the lights coming from the Ark camp. It had been so long.

"Spencer." Finn interrupted. "You can finish this later, we gotta go now."

Spencer gave a worried look to Alex, but he read her mind and addressed her concern. "Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm going with you, Spence."

Spencer grinned and Alex took her hand and they followed the group into the woods in search of the 100.

~~~~~~~~~~


	15. Reapercussions

_Italics = Character's thoughts_ _/ Spencer's POV_

~~~~~~~~~~

_I gotta admit...Alex grew on me._

_After working on our Earth history project, we actually became friends. He took my mind off Finn and my father. Well, while I was with him that is._

_Alex kinda reminded me of Finn a little. He was witty like him, but he had unrelenting optimism, which put me off when we first met. But now, I don't know what I'd do without him._

_"Hey, Alex?" I ask._

_"Hmm?" Alex looked up at me with a smile._

_"I know you're training to be a guard. So, I was wondering if you could teach me how to fight. Or at least, defend myself."_

_Alex furrowed his eyebrows. "Why do you wanna know? I mean, it's a good skill, but I'm still curious."_

_"Well," I sigh, "I just wanna know."_

_Alex just smiled and shook his head. Then got up from laying down on the room floor and held out his hand to me._

_"Alright, miss Spencer. I'll teach you the basics first."_

**~~~~~~~~~~**

Bellamy, Finn, Monroe, Sterling, Murphy, Spencer, and Alex were walking to find their friends. Spencer could tell Finn was on edge, he desperately wanted to find Clarke.

Murphy was still being guarded by Bellamy, which annoyed him. But Murphy was more annoyed by the fact that Spencer hadn't talked to him once ever since this Alex guy showed up.

Murphy quickly realized that it was the Alex that had been friends with Spencer on the Ark. Murphy knew it was important for her to catch up, but he still found himself wanting to punch Alex in his perfect jaw.

"Alright, Murphy, Spencer, where to now?" Bellamy asked.

Spencer was about to speak but Murphy talked instead. "What do you say we lose these cuffs first, huh?" Murphy said.

"No. Again." Bellamy answered immediately.

"Come on, Bellamy. Just uncuff him." Spencer said.

"If we get attacked, I have nothing to defend myself with." Murphy added.

"I don't care." Bellamy said. "And Spencer, we only brought him with us for you, okay? We could have easily left him and taken you with us. He stays cuffed."

Finn sighed and walked up to Murphy and cut his cuffs off. "Thank you." Murphy said in a monotone voice.

Bellamy glared at Murphy and caught up with Finn, to talk to him. But Murphy walked up to them, "So, do I get a gun now?" Murphy teased, but that got his pushed ahead by Bellamy.

Spencer hated that Bellamy was still hostile towards Murphy. She gets that he's still angry, hell, she was too. But Bellamy didn't have to constantly push him around.

"Hey, you okay?" Alex asked Spencer.

"Oh, um, yeah." Spencer smiled. "I'm alright."

After reuniting with Alex, it got a little awkward. Neither of them knew what to say to each other. They both were so happy that they found each other again, but yet they had little to say after that.

"So, um, how was the trip down to Earth?"

Alex chuckled. "Scary. I'm pretty sure I pissed myself." Spencer laughed. "But thankfully we made it. Well, at least, our station did." Alex said sadly. "The stations were all connected until we launched. But then they just tore apart. No one's heard from the other stations...so far, we seem to be the only survivors."

"Did your dad make it?" Spencer asked, nervous about the answer.

"Oh, yeah. He's fine. A little scratched up, but that's it. He was just as scared as I was on the way down."

"I'm sorry, Alex. It must've been pretty terrifying."

Alex gave her a weak smile and shrugged. "Yeah, but enough about me. How've you been? Is Earth all it's cracked up to be?"

"Ha, you could say that."

"You've uh...seem to have a lot of scars on your face. What're they from?"

Spencer tensed up. "Um, well. Some are from the battle between us and the Grounders. Some are still left over from when Murphy and I got tortured..."

Alex froze. "What do you mean...tortured?"

Spencer shrugged. "Does tortured have another definition I should learn about?"

"Why, why did they torture you?"

"They wanted information about our camp. We were there for three days until Murphy finally broke and told them everything. I almost lost my finger, ha." Spencer rubbed over the bandage that was covering her still healing finger.

"Spencer. I'm so sorry that happened to you." Alex frowned.

"It is what it is. I just hope you never have to experience something like that down here."

Alex and Spencer were silent for the rest of the walk. Alex had no idea it would be so barbaric on Earth, yet it is.

Murphy looked back at Spencer and Alex and sighed. "What's wrong with you?" Bellamy asked mockingly.

Murphy shook his head. "Do you know that Alex guy?"

Bellamy shook his head. "No, but him and Spencer seem pretty close. Why?"

"No reason."

Bellamy chuckled. "Aw, is someone jealous?" He mocked.

Murphy glared at Bellamy. "Shut up. I just don't trust him is all."

"Well, he seems alright to me. I'm pretty sure everyone would trust him over you. He's definitely better looking than you too."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"No. Why would I wanna do that?" Murphy rolled his eyes at Bellamy, but he pushed Murphy ahead just to bother him.

After sometime later, Spencer noticed that they were getting closer to the Grounder prison camp and walked up to Murphy. "Hey, we're getting close. You excited to be going back there?" Spencer joked.

"Excited isn't really the word I would've used." Murphy sighed, frowning from the memories of getting tortured by those creatures.

Eventually, everyone came up on the camp. Murphy quickly pushed Bellamy to the ground. "Everybody down, down. This is it. Told you I'd find it."

"We." Spencer interjected.

Bellamy looked through his rifle's lens. "I see nothing but Grounders." Finn then grabbed Sterling's rifle and looked through it. "Our people aren't here."

"Wait a minute." Finn said. "They've got stuff from our dropship."

"So maybe they know where our friends are."

"Yeah, or maybe they killed them already." Murphy added.

"Shut up, Murphy." Spencer snapped.

"Son of a bitch." Finn whispered angrily.

"What is it?"

"The guy with the one eye. Around his neck."

"What am I looking at?" Bellamy asked.

"He's got Clarke's watch. It was her father's."

"She wouldn't give that up without a fight."

"Neither will we." Finn said darkly.

Bellamy quickly came up with a plan to lure the Grounder with Clarke's watch over to them without conflict.

Spencer didn't really agree with the plan, since it involved using Murphy as bait, but there was no use trying to argue with Bellamy. But Spencer somehow convinced Bellamy to let her watch out for Murphy.

They gave the signal and Murphy started tapping two rocks together to get the Grounder's attention. When the Grounder got too close, Spencer motioned for Murphy hide.

Bellamy quickly emerged from his spot and knocked the Grounder out and everyone came out of their hiding spots as well. "We need to take him somewhere quiet." Bellamy suggested.

"I know just the place." Finn replied.

It didn't take the group long to find their way to the place that Finn was talking about, the place where him and Clarke hid Charlotte.

They all climbed down the ladder and quickly tied up the Grounder before he regained consciousness. Everyone was just waiting for him to wake up, but Bellamy had knock him out twice on the way so it was taking longer.

Finn was starting to scare Spencer a little. She had never seen him so...not calm. Spencer sighed as Finn started pacing again. "Finn seems a little...agitated." Alex whispered.

"Yeah, no kidding. I've never seen him like this before."

"Clarke must mean a great deal to him."

"Yeah...she must be." Spencer frowned.

Finally, after a few minutes, the Grounder woke up and he did not look happy. At first, he was confused then angry. But Finn and Bellamy didn't waste any time and started interrogating him.

The Grounder told them that he found Clarke's watch outside of their camp, but they didn't believe him.

"We're gonna try this again." Bellamy started. "And this time, you're gonna stop screwing with us. Where did you find this?" Bellamy held up the watch.

"I told you, I found it outside your camp." The Grounder replied.

"He's lying. She would never take it off voluntarily." Finn said.

"I know." Bellamy said.

Finn took the watch out of Bellamy's hand. "Where is the girl who was wearing this watch?" Finn asked more frantically.

"I never saw a girl."

Murphy sighed. "Another lie. Maybe you should stop asking nicely-"

"Shut up, Murphy." Bellamy interrupted. "Where are our friends? You took them. We know you did, just tell us where."

Finn then took out his gun. "Murphy's right. We're wasting time." And then he hit the Grounder. "Answer the question!" Bellamy then started to pull Finn away. "Where is the girl who was wearing this watch?" He yelled.

"Hey, hey. Finn, stop! You don't wanna do this. Trust me. There are some lines you can't uncross." Bellamy said, which seemed to calm Finn down and Bellamy stepped away.

Then Finn started repeatedly hitting the Grounder with the butt of his handgun. "Where's Clarke?! Where is she?!"

Spencer had enough of Finn and ran to him and tried to stop him, which made Finn point his gun at her head.

"Finn!" Spencer yelled in shock. When she looked into Finn's eyes, she couldn't tell if it was still him anymore.

Murphy got up from where he was sitting and was about to stop Finn but Bellamy stepped in. "Finn! Put down the gun." Bellamy said calmly and cautiously walked towards him.

Finn sighed and instead directed his aim towards the Grounder and cocked the gun. "Three seconds!" Finn yelled. "Two!...one."

"Okay!" The Grounder said. "I'll tell you. Your friends are East of here. The village where we take our prisoners of war."

"East where? How do we get to them?"

"I can draw you a map...but you should hurry. Soon they'll outlive their usefulness."

Finn finally lowered the gun. "Get him something to draw a map." Monroe quickly got a piece of paper and pencil and gave it to the Grounder.

Murphy got up and walked to Bellamy. "You thought I was the crazy one, huh?"

Bellamy almost agreed with Murphy. Finn was starting to become unhinged. If he was ready to shoot Spencer, someone who was like a sister to him, who knows what else he'll do to find Clarke.

After Finn took his aim off Spencer, she backed into a corner and sat down on the floor. She could not believe that Finn almost shot her. She knew he cared about Clarke, but even more than his so-called best friend? It almost as painful when he first ditched her.

 _No, Finn wouldn't have hurt me. He loves me. Finn's just on edge. He'll go back to normal after we find everyone._ Spencer tried to tell herself.

Murphy looked over to Spencer, her face had no expression. To everyone else, she probably looked bored, but Murphy knew better and walked over to her and sat down beside her. "Hey, you doing alright?"

"Well, my friend just held a gun to my head. So, no. I'm not at my best." Spencer replied.

"So, uh, how's catching up with Alex?" Murphy tried to change the conversation, not that he wanted to talk about it but he couldn't think of anything else.

Spencer gave a little smile. "It's been good. I missed him so much. I honestly thought I'd never see him again."

As if right on cue, Alex looked over to Spencer and smiled. Murphy fought the urge to roll his eyes. Alex seemed nice. Too nice. "Do you trust him? Alex?"

"Yeah, of course. Sure, it's been awhile since we've seen each other, but I'd trust him with my life."

Murphy tensed. "Well, it's...good that he's trustworthy then."

Murphy suddenly thought about when he kissed Spencer, and now he's starting to regret it. Did Spencer even care about Murphy as much as he did her? Does she care more about Alex than him?

All these thoughts flooded Murphy's mind, and he hated it. Why did he even feel jealous? It's not like he has feelings for Spencer. He doesn't have feelings for anyone.

After the Grounder finally finished drawing the map, everyone gathered to look at it. "Gather up your gear." Bellamy ordered. "We're leaving."

"What about him?" Spencer asked, motioning to the Grounder.

"For now, we leave him. We'll deal with him when we're done."

"Well, what if he escapes? He knows exactly where we're going." Murphy added.

"We're not killing him." Bellamy said.

"I'm not seeing another option here. If we don't take care of this now, this is gonna blow back on us and you know that."

"He's unarmed."

"He's a Grounder. Come on, tell them." Murphy told Monroe.

"He's a human being, Murphy." Spencer argued, even though she kind of agreed with his logic.

"I don't know." Monroe said.

"You don't know what? He's gonna tell his people everything. We're as good as dead. Our friends too."

"Murphy, you can't be serious." Spencer said.

"Look, Spencer's right, we're not doing this. End of discussion. You want him, you go through me." Bellamy said.

"What exactly happened to you, huh? You're talking like you've never killed a Grounder before." Murphy said.

"That was in battle. This would be an execution."

Murphy shook his head and turned to Spencer. "And Spencer, why are you taking Bellamy's side yet again? This Grounder could've easily been the one that was ordered to torture us."

Spencer sighed. "This is different, Murphy."

"Oh, yeah, how so? We've got this Grounder tied up just like we were not too long ago. Remember all the times they cut us, whipped us? When they put that burning rod in your fucking shoulder?"

"Murphy!" Bellamy yelled.

As soon as Bellamy yelled, a gunshot echoed through the bunker. Everyone turned to see Finn, with his gun out and the Grounder on the floor with a gunshot through his skull.

Everyone was frozen.

Finn stared at the Grounder. "Let's get moving." Finn said with no emotion in his voice, grabbing the map and heading out of the bunker.

Murphy was the first to follow after Finn, then Sterling and Alex. Monroe handed Bellamy his gun, while Spencer was frozen.

"Hey, let's go." Bellamy rubbed Spencer's shoulder. She sighed and nodded, following after everyone else.

_What is wrong with Finn?_

~~~~~~~~~~


	16. Many Happy Returns

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

"Everyone, eyes peeled. We're in Grounder territory now." Bellamy said.

"Everything is Grounder territory, alright? I can't keep running." Murphy said, out of breath and stopped. "We don't even know if the guy Finn killed was telling the truth."

Finn stormed up to Murphy. "Keep moving." He said and shoved him.

"We can give them a minute." Bellamy said.

"No, we can't. You heard what that Grounder said: They'll outlive their usefulness."

"I heard what he said when you had a gun to his head."

"Look, you think I wanted to do that? He would've told his people we're coming. And by the time we got there, our people would be dead. Maybe that's something you can live with, but I can't."

"I know you did what you think you had to do. But you are not yourself right now and I can't be out here with another loose cannon." Bellamy said, looking to Murphy.

During that whole conversation, Spencer noticed that it didn't smell too good in the area they were in. Then she saw it. The bodies. "Uh, you guys." She said, motioning to the dead bodies.

"Fall in."

As they continued walking, more and more bodies were littering the ground. "Where the hell did they come from?" Murphy asked.

"...from the Ark."

Spencer could hear Alex gasp from behind her. Alex was horrified. He had never seen so many dead bodies before, and he rarely ever saw dead bodies.

Spencer felt bad for Alex. He was still not accustomed to the ground. If he was going to survive, he's going to have to learn quickly.

Closer and closer they got towards the cliff, they saw part of the Ark. "That's a rough landing." Murphy commented.

Bellamy sighed. "There's nothing we can do for these people. We gotta go."

Before everyone walked away, they suddenly heard someone whimpering. A woman. "Did you hear that?" Alex asked and hurried back to the edge of the cliff. "There someone down there."

"Hey!" Bellamy called out. "Up here!"

"Please help me!" The woman called back.

"Mel?" Sterling asked.

"You know her?" Murphy asked.

"Shut up, Murphy. She's my friend. We have to do something."

Spencer rolled her eyes. _Sterling's so annoying._ Finn pulled Bellamy and Spencer to the side. "We can't stop."

"Finn!" Spencer whispered. "We have to help her."

"Yeah, this isn't a Grounder, Finn. We have a rope." Bellamy said.

Finn shook his head. "You saw her. She'd never be able to hold on to it. We'd have to lower somebody down. It'll take time that we don't have. I hate this as much as you guys do, but our friends-"

"I know. Okay? I know."

"Bellamy, you can't be serious! We can't just leave her." Spencer argued.

"We'll come back for her." Finn promised.

"Finn, we can't! She'll never make it if we leave! Bellamy, come on!"

Bellamy thought about for a second. Saving their people was more important to him. "We're moving out!"

Spencer was about to yell at both of them, but Finn yelled out first. "No, wait, Sterling!" Finn ran to Sterling as he was lowering himself down the cliff with a rope.

"Well, it looks like we're taking that break after all, huh?" Murphy said, which made Alex scoff and that caught Murphy's attention. "You wanna say something, huh?" Alex rolled his eyes and stayed silent. "What? Cat got your tongue?"

"Murphy!" Spencer yelled. "Enough."

"I just don't like your flippant attitude towards every single thing." Alex said.

"Alex, don't."

"Who's being flippant?" Murphy laughed and scoffed. "My flippant attitude? God, you must think you're so much better than me."

Murphy started walking towards Alex, who was slowly starting to back away. "Murphy!" Spencer yelled, trying to get them to stop arguing.

"Really, Spence? Why do you even like this guy? He's such an asshole." Alex said.

"Oh, I could say the same about you." Murphy tried to run at Alex, but Spencer got in his way way. "Move, Spencer. Let me punch this puny bitch."

"Murphy. Stop. Now is not the time to be doing this, okay?" Spencer made Murphy look into her eyes. "Just stop."

Murphy sighed bitterly. "Whatever." He said and backed off.

Everybody anxiously watched as Sterling got father down the cliff and closer to the girl. "I'm almost there!" He yelled. "Once I have her, pull us up!"

"I'd say he's heard one too many of your motivational speeches." Murphy teased.

"Shut up, Murphy." Bellamy immediately said, which made Spencer smile to herself.

Sterling was there. All he had to do was grab onto her, but the ledge she was standing broke off and made her and Sterling dangle. He reached out to her, grabbed her hand, and then the rope came undone. They all scrambled to try and grab the rope, but it was too late.

Sterling was dead.

"Mel! Mel, hold on! Focus on me. You can do this!" Bellamy encouraged.

"No!"

"Yes, you can! You're strong!"

"I'm not strong. Stubborn, maybe." Mel replied.

"So be stubborn a little longer. I'm not gonna let you die. You hear me?"

Finn was getting frustrated. "We're out of rope."

"Then we make a new one." Spencer argued.

"If anything happens to our friends-"

"We don't even know if we can save our friends!" Bellamy interrupted. "For all we know, they may be dead already. We've all thought it. But what we do know is that we can save this one girl."

"Sterling was one of us." Monroe said. "She was his friend. I'm in."

"How do we do it?" Murphy finally asked.

"We make new rope from the wreckage. Go find wires, seatbelts, anything." Bellamy ordered.

Murphy, Monroe, and Alex all started searching right away. "I hope you're right about this." Finn said and walked off.

It was a few minutes, but everyone finally found enough supplies to make a decent rope. "Alright, who's going down?" Alex asked.

"I vote that Alex goes." Murphy said.

"Murphy." Spencer scolded. "I'll go."

"No." Murphy and Alex said at the same time.

"Lower me down." Bellamy said, already tied to the rope.

Everyone quickly picked up parts of the rope and got adjusted to Bellamy's weight. "Alright, ease it out slowly." They quickly but safely lowered Bellamy down, he was already half way there.

Spencer was struggling a little, since her arm was taking a lot of strain, but she refused to be useless.

Everyone felt the weight get heavier when the girl latched on to Bellamy. "I got her! Pull us up!"

"Don't you worry, Bellamy. I won't drop ya." Murphy said in a strained voice.

"Just pull, Murphy." Finn ordered.

Everyone pulled the rope with all their might. Bellamy and Mel were almost there, just a little more.

Then all of a sudden, part of the rope unbuckled and everyone but Murphy fell to the ground and it was just Murphy holding the weight of two people.

Spencer was quick to get to her feet first and ran to help Murphy. As soon as she grabbed onto the rope, she could feel the rope cutting into her skin but she refused to let go.

Quickly, Finn, Alex, and Monroe latched onto the rope and pulled. "What the hell is going on up there?" Bellamy called out.

"Just a little mishap, hold on!" Spencer yelled.

Then, if things couldn't get any worse, arrows started flying at the group. "Grounders!" Monroe yelled.

"Monroe, cover us!" Finn yelled and handed her his gun.

"How many are there?" Bellamy yelled.

"We can't see them!" Finn looked to Monroe. "In the trees! In the trees! Aim for the trees!"

Then Finn and Alex saw an arrow come right to them, but quickly moved out of the way, leaving Murphy and Spencer on the rope. But the boys were quick to help again. Then Monroe got shot in the leg.

"He's gonna need to cut her loose. We can't do this." Murphy said. "Bellamy, you gotta cut her loose!"

"No way!" Bellamy yelled.

"Cut her loose!"

Suddenly, they heard a horn. The same horn they heard when acid fog was coming. _Oh, hell no, I'm not going through that again._

"Monroe, get back on the ropes!" Spencer yelled. Monroe, even with an arrow in her leg, crawled back over and helped the group with the rope. "Come on, guys, we're so close!"

Spencer wanted to feel relief when she saw Bellamy's head pop up over the cliff, but she waited until they were completely safe.

As soon as Bellamy and Mel were safe, everyone let go of the rope and relaxed. But they couldn't relax for long. "We have to take cover from the fog." Finn said.

"Bellamy!"

Everyone looked up and saw none other than Octavia. "No, we don't." Bellamy smiled.

"She blew the horn." Murphy realized.

"Octavia." Bellamy said and walked to her, and hugged.

Bellamy and Octavia tended to Mel and Monroe's wounds while Spencer kept a look out.

Spencer looked down at her hands and they were bleeding. _I wonder if Murphy's hands are too._ She looked to Murphy but saw Alex walking up to her instead. "You okay?"

"Yup. How about you?" Spencer asked.

"Annoyed."

"Huh, I thought you'd be more relieved considering the stressful situation we were just in." Spencer chuckled. "Why are you annoyed?"

"Because of that douchebag Murphy. He's so arrogant and only cares about himself."

Spencer felt her blood heat up. "You've only just met him. You can't make assumptions about people when you don't even know them." Spencer continued keeping watch.

"And you know him, do you? You know why he's such an asshole?"

"Shut up, Alex." Spencer snapped, surprising Alex.

"You care about him...why?"

"He's my friend."

"I didn't know you like making friends with jerks."

"Well, I became your friend, didn't I?" Spencer joked.

Alex rolled his eyes and fought off a smile. "He just seems untrustworthy. He gives me a bad vibe. I think it's best if you-"

"Don't you dare try to tell me to keep my distance from him." Spencer interrupted.

"No...I was going to say to be cautious."

Murphy decided he wanted to be in on their little chat. He walked up to them and wrapped his arms around Spencer. "Whatcha two talking about over here?" Murphy smiled.

"Nothing that concerns you." Alex said.

Spencer groaned, but thankfully their conversation didn't last long. "The Grounders will be back, so we need to go. Now." Octavia shouted. Murphy, Spencer, and Alex all flocked back to where everyone else was.

"Yes, we do." Finn said, looking over the map.

"Octavia said the arrow might be poisoned." Bellamy said. "I have to take them home."

"I know." Finn said and handed him a map.

"I'll meet you as soon as I can."

"I know." Finn said and started to run off.

Then Murphy and Spencer started to go after Finn. "Parting. Such sweet sorrow, right?" Murphy said.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Bellamy asked.

"Come on, Bellamy. You know if I go with you, they'll just lock me up again."

Bellamy sighed and threw Murphy a gun. "Really?" Octavia asked.

"Watch his back." Bellamy told Murphy and Spencer.

"Wait, wait, wait, Spencer! Why are you leaving?" Alex asked.

"Kane wants me to have a trial, and I have a feeling that that trial won't be too fair. I'm not gonna take any chances going back there if I'm just going to be executed." Spencer explained.

Alex turned to Bellamy. "Are you really allowing this?"

Bellamy gave a look to Alex. "Yes, I am. It's for the best right now, until we can guarantee Spencer's freedom."

Alex sighed. "Then I'm going with you."

"No, Alex." Spencer said. "You don't know the ground like we do. You'll get hurt, might even be killed. Go with Bellamy. He'll protect you."

Spencer didn't even wait to hear a response from Alex, she didn't want to feel more guilty than she already did about leaving him when they had just been reunited.

Spencer sighed, _Bellamy better protect Alex._

~~~~~~~~~~


	17. Human Trials

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

The long trek to the Grounder camp was difficult. Not because of all the walking and running, but because Spencer noticed that Finn was getting more and more unhinged, which scared her.

"The map says we're almost there. About five more miles." Finn said.

"So, does that mean we can take a break from running?" Murphy asked.

"No, it doesn't." Finn replied.

"Finn, we need to take a break. We're out of water." Spencer said.

Finn sighed angrily. "Fine, fine. Just hurry." Spencer nodded.

Thankfully, they were running close to a river bank nearby. Finn reluctantly followed Spencer and Murphy, feeling a little thirsty as well.

Spencer kneeled down next to the water and filled up her canteen. "You doing alright?" Murphy asked.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Just tired."

It was almost laughable to Murphy at how unconvincing she sounded. She definitely wasn't just tired. Murphy knew that. She knew that. But they both chose to ignore it for the sake of time.

Instead, Murphy glanced down and saw her hands.

"Your hands." Spencer looked down at her hands, they were still covered in dirt and blood. "Let me clean those for you." Murphy sat down and started washing her hands with the water from the river.

Spencer tried not to hiss in pain from Murphy's fingers rubbing over her cuts and rope burns. "I'm worried about Finn." She sighed.

Murphy looked over to Finn who was just staring at the water with a vacant expression. "Yeah...it seems like he's getting crazier with every minute passing by that we don't find Clarke."

"You don't think he'd actually...shoot me, do you?"

Murphy paused. "I...I don't know." Spencer stayed quiet. "Okay, your hands are blood free. Again."

Spencer chuckled. "You always know how to take care of me."

Murphy blushed and chuckled. He knew she was joking, but it warmed his heart a little. Murphy also noticed the dry blood that was still on Spencer face from... "You might wanna wash your face as well."

Spencer nodded in appreciation and rubbed her face with water. "All gone?"

Murphy smiled and raised his hand to rub his thumb over a spot she missed. "All gone." But his thumb lingered.

"Okay, we've had a break. Now let's go." Finn ordered suddenly, causing Murphy to quickly retract his caressing touch from Spencer and blush furiously.

Spencer and Murphy sighed and followed Finn.

Five miles later and the trio finally found the Grounder camp, but of course, it started to rain. They all took cover in the trees and spied on the camp. "I count 26." Finn said, looking through his gun's scope.

"I got 28." Murphy said.

Spencer sighed. "32." _Mmm, I'm not good at math..._

"These people don't look like warriors, Finn. Just kids, old people. There's nothing big enough to hold our friends."

"They could be underground." Finn said.

"Or just not here at all." Spencer mumbled.

"We wait until dark. Then we go in."

"Wait, we go in? Finn, we don't even know if our people are here yet." Murphy responded.

"They're here. Or they were when that Grounder took Clarke's watch."

"And what if we're too late? I mean, they're probably already dead-"

Finn interrupted Murphy by angrily grabbing into his jacket. "Hey, hey, Finn. Take it easy." Spencer said.

Finn let go of Murphy and went back to looking through his gun's scope. "How much ammo do we have?"

"You know, I think I liked you better as a peacemaker." Murphy replied. Murphy and Spencer exchanged worried looks, but went along with Finn's plan.

It wasn't long until it got dark, and everyone in the camp went to sleep. Finn nodded and the three of them snuck into the camp. Finn went to grab a torch. "What are you doing? This isn't part of your plan." Murphy whispered.

"I'm changing the plan."

"Damn it, Finn." Spencer cursed, but she and Murphy followed Finn.

They all ran up to a building and Finn looked inside. "This is their food." Then he tossed the torch inside, lighting the whole building ablaze.

Spencer was about to scold Finn, but they all were quick to circle around the camp and hide. They all watched as all the Grounders woke and tried putting out the fire frantically.

"Distraction? Not bad." Murphy commented.

"Let's go." Finn said and they all took off to try to quietly search their camp for their friends.

But unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Sneaking around didn't get the trio very far, and they were soon spotted by a Grounder who made sure the camp knew they were there.

Murphy quickly knocked out the Grounder. "We need to run!" Murphy said and tried to bring Spencer and Finn out of the camp.

"We can't. They'll kill our people."

"They'll kill us!" Murphy said.

But Finn walked over and brought the Grounder to his feet and walked out of cover with his gun pointed at the Grounder.

"Finn!" Spencer yelled.

Finn aimed his gun at the sky and started shooting, scaring all the Grounder villagers.

"Who's in charge here?" Finn ordered and put the Grounder on his knees. Murphy and Spencer had no choice but to aim their guns at the Grounders too. "I'll ask again. Who's in charge?"

Murphy and Spencer gave each other worried looks yet again, as a Grounder with a tattoo on his face came out of the crowd. The Grounder said something to his people before turning to the trio. "Our leader isn't here. You can deal with me."

"Nobody has to get hurt. We just want our people back."

"We don't have your people."

"Then you won't mind if we look around."

Finn rounded up all the Grounders and made them stay in a corral of sorts, and he made Murphy and Spencer guard them while he searched.

For hours Finn searched, searched until the Sun came up. Murphy and Spencer just watched as Finn ran from building to building looking for their people like a maniac.

"Finn is gonna get us all killed." Murphy huffed.

"Normally, I'd disagree. But he's definitely not himself." Spencer replied, and out of the corner of her eye she saw a young Grounder shifting in his spot.

_Please, don't try anything kid._

Murphy stepped and looked away to watch Finn, but immediately came back when a Grounder started talking. "I told you, we don't have your people."

"Stop talking." Murphy said, and then looked over to Finn. "You find something?" He called out to Finn. "Finn!" Finn wouldn't answer. "Finn, answer me! Are you alright?"

As Spencer expected, that Grounder boy tried to get up, but she immediately aimed her gun at him.

"Hey, on your knees! Down! On your knees now!" Murphy yelled. "On your knees!"

Spencer sighed. "Finn!" She called out.

Finn suddenly came running full speed and jumped over the barricade, holding a piece of clothing. "What have you done with them?" Finn yelled at the tattooed Grounder male.

When he did not answer, Finn put his gun to the Grounder's head.

"Hey, Finn, Finn. Come on." Murphy and Spencer both tried to calm Finn.

"Their clothes are here! They were here!" Finn snapped. He put the gun back to the Grounder. "You killed them."

"Finn!" Murphy and Spencer yelled.

When the Grounders started to get up, the tattooed Grounder yelled at everyone in their language and they stopped. "Your friends were not here." The Grounder responded calmly. "I saw one, Octavia, but she was alone."

Murphy and Spencer believed the Grounder as soon as he said that. "These people are scavengers, Finn. They could've just found that stuff." Murphy said.

Finn didn't listen, instead grabbed a female Grounder and put her to the ground, holding her in place with his foot and his gun.

"Finn! Finn, listen to us!" Spencer tried to grab onto Finn but he harshly pushed her away.

"Finn, don't do this. Man, let's just walk out of here while we still can, okay?" Murphy begged.

"Finn, come on!" Spencer begged.

Finn looked like he was having an internal battle with himself. "Finn." Murphy said softly. "Please."

After a few moments, Finn finally let go of the woman. Spencer exhaled in relief and didn't notice that her finger was on her gun's trigger, aiming at Finn.

Spencer felt her hands shaking. _God, I hate this so much. Don't cry. Don't fucking cry..._

Murphy looked to her and put a reassuring hand on her arm, not that it helped any. "Finn, Spencer, we need to talk." The trio went a couple feet from the group to talk. "Look, Finn, just because their clothes are here, doesn't mean anything."

"He told us our friends were here. Why would he do that?" Finn asked.

"The guy with one eye? Maybe because you had a gun to his head, Finn." Spencer snapped.

The tattooed Grounder suddenly spoke up, which made Finn point his gun at him. "A man with one eye? You saw Delano. A snake, thief. He and his men were cast out. You are his revenge." He explained.

"It makes sense, Finn." Murphy said. "Okay? We need to go. Now." Finn wouldn't budge. Murphy hit Finn's shoulder. "Now, Finn. We need to go."

Finn finally agreed and turned away, but an old Grounder jumped out of the barricade and made a run for it. Finn turned and immediately shot and killed him. "Finn, no!"

The moment of silence after the gunshot went off and hit the old man was almost deafening. Spencer's knees almost buckled from how horrified she felt.

_Finn...what did you just do?_

"He was just trying to get away!" The Grounder cried.

Suddenly, the young male Grounder jumped out of the barricade and ran towards the trio. But Finn shot and killed him as well.

"No! Finn! We need to leave!" Murphy and Spencer kept yelling at Finn.

Soon more and more Grounders started to try and escape, but Finn just kept shooting.

"Finn!" Spencer tugged on Finn's arm but he wouldn't stop. Spencer was suddenly on the ground and she couldn't see out of one eye. She blinked multiple times, but all she kept getting was blood pooling in her eyes.

Spencer finally heard the shooting stop. All that she could hear now was the sound weeping men and women. "Spencer!" She heard Murphy call out.

Murphy saw how Finn hit her harshly with his gun, cutting a deep gash on her head. As soon as Finn stopped shooting, Murphy went to Spencer. "Oh god, you're bleeding." Murphy said worryingly.

Murphy helped Spencer sit up. Spencer almost wished she couldn't see at all. She saw dead Grounders, young and old, filled with bullet holes. And a shocked Clarke, Bellamy, and Octavia.

Octavia ran to the Grounder that was holding up the young Grounder boy. "Artigas." Octavia whispered.

All Spencer could do was sit there and watch Clarke stare at Finn in horror at what he's done.

"I found you."

~~~~~~~~~~  
 **God, writing this was infuriating. Finn's such a dumbass😒**


	18. Fog of War

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

Warning: Talk of sexual abuse

~~~~~~~~~~

"I found you."

A chill was sent down Spencer's spine when she heard Finn's chilling voice. He talked like he didn't just massacre an entire village.

"Spencer." She heard from beside her. She knew Murphy was there, but didn't realize Bellamy saw her and ran over to her. "Murphy, what the hell happened here?"

Murphy huffed. "Finn went psycho and shot up the whole place. Spencer and I tried to stop him but as you can see, it didn't really work."

Bellamy sighed and looked over Spencer's wound, and he called Clarke over. Clarke came over and inspected Spencer's wound and sighed. "It's deep. I don't have any supplies. We gotta get her back."

Spencer tensed when she said that and started shaking her head. "No. No. I can't go back there. I'll take my chances out here."

"Hey, hey, calm down Spence." Bellamy said. "We talked to Abby. She said she'd make sure you get a fair trial. You and Murphy both."

Spencer scoffed. "Fair? Yeah, right. Kane has it in for me. It's not gonna be fair."

"Kane's not at camp." Clarke said. "He left to try to negotiate peace with the Grounders."

For the first time in awhile, Spencer felt relieved. "Remember when Finn wanted peace?" Murphy said, ruining Spencer's relief.

"Shut up, Murphy." Bellamy said.

Bellamy told the group that they needed to leave. Murphy helped Spencer up, and everyone left the massacred village.

Spencer felt extremely guilty just up and leaving right after killing a bunch of people, but she wanted to leave so bad that she didn't care at the time.

To say that the hike back was excruciatingly tense would be a big understatement. No one knew what to do or say, all they knew was that they needed to get Finn back to camp before the Grounders retaliated.

As soon as the group walked through the gates, Murphy and Spencer were taken into custody.

"Welp, prisoners again, huh?" Murphy said as soon as the guards left the cell. Murphy was hoping to get at least a little smile, but all he got was a cold stare. "Tough crowd." He coughed.

Spencer sighed. "I appreciate you trying, Murphy, but it's just not the time. Finn just fucking massacred an innocent village. He hit me in the face and now I can't see out of my right eye."

As soon as she said that, Abby rushed into the cell and went to Spencer. "What's up, doc?" Murphy asked.

"I'm here to fix you, Spencer." Abby said, setting up her medical equipment.

"Why couldn't we do this in your med tent?" Spencer asked.

Abby was silent for a moment. "It's not in your best interest."

Spencer scoffed. "Of course it's not." Abby started cleaning the cut on Spencer's head, making her hiss. "Probably shouldn't waste precious materials on a dead girl, Dr. Griffin."

"Don't talk like that, Spencer. I promise you'll get a fair trial soon, okay?"

"Is my father gonna testify?"

"...I'm afraid so."

"I'm fucked."

"Hey." Abby scolded.

"Sorry..."

"Look, Spencer. You're not...fucked." Spencer almost laughed, that word definitely didn't belong in Abby's vocabulary. "You can ask other people to testify for you."

Spencer's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Abby smiled. "Yes. Alex has already volunteered."

"I'll testify!" Murphy called out suddenly, but then felt a little silly with how eager he sounded.

"Thank you, Murphy." Spencer smiled softly.

"Okay, Spencer. I have to flush out your eye because there's still blood in it. It might sting a little."

After that, Spencer regained vision in her eye, still somewhat blurry. Then Abby started to stitch up the cut. "Mm, ow." Abby gave Spencer an apologetic smile. "Abby, why are you being so nice to me?"

Abby sighed. "I don't know how well you remember, but your mother and I were close once." Spencer nodded. "Even before you were born, your father started showing abusive tendencies. Your mom promised me that it stopped when you were born, but when I heard the news that she was floated because she broke his arm...I had a feeling that..."

"Wait. You mean you knew about my father this whole time...and never did anything?"

"I...I tried giving him benefit of the doubt. For that, I am...so so sorry, Spencer." Abby cried. "I'm sorry I didn't see the signs even after her death. I'm so sorry."

Spencer tried to hold in her tears. "You could've prevented so much Abby..."

Abby whimpered, but continued to carefully stitch up Spencer. "Okay, I'm done. For your trial. You'll have to be honest...about everything. Do you think you can do that?"

"I'll try my best." Abby nodded and went to head out, but Spencer stopped her. "It wasn't your fault, Abby. I shouldn't blame you." Abby didn't look convinced that Spencer meant what she said, but nodded anyway.

"I have to be honest about everything..." Spencer voiced when Abby left. "That means you have to too."

"Is that okay?" Murphy asked. "Telling the council everything?"

"If it gives me my freedom and possibly a chance that my father gets locked up...then yes. 100 percent honesty."

Two days later, the inquisition was finally happening. Finn and Murphy went first, and they were cleared. The council asked for Alex and Murphy to testify for Spencer.

Alex was called first to testify.

Alex rubbed his hands together nervously as he stood in front of the row of council members. "Alex. You've been Spencer Rolfe's friend for a few years, is that correct?"

"Yes." Alex cleared his throat after his voice cracked a little.

"And what do you know of Spencer's crime on the Ark?"

"I know that she attempted to kill her father."

"What motive would Ms. Rolfe have to try to kill her father?"

"Her home life wasn't that great. Before her mother was floated, Eric was abusive and even after her death."

"Do you know the extent of the abuse?"

"Whenever I saw her on the Ark, she almost always had bruises on her body. It took awhile, but I eventually got her to tell me that it was her father's doing."

"Do you think Spencer is innocent?"

"Yes. Kinda."

"Elaborate, please."

"I don't think Spencer was right to do what she did, but I also think that her father definitely deserved to be floated."

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Neil. You're dismissed."

The council discussed and called for the next person, Eric Rolfe. "Mr. Rolfe, you've been accused of physically abusing your daughter, and that was her motive for harming you."

Eric gasped loudly. "Abuse? I...I would never do that to my own daughter! I'm offended that you could even think such a thing. She's my pride and joy!"

"One of our witnesses said that he saw bruises on your daughter's body all the time on the Ark."

"That kid Alex? That boy's a troublemaker. Never liked me. He's always had it out for me."

"So, you deny ever abusing your daughter?"

"Yes! I absolutely deny it!"

"Your former wife-"

"Oh! God rest her soul."

"...your former wife, Linda, was floated for breaking your arm. She claimed it was self-defense. What do you have to say to that?"

"As much as I loved my wife, her mind was going by the end. She would've drunk herself to death if she wasn't floated. But I'd never hurt her."

Abby stood up suddenly and started to speak. "I was close friends with your former wife. She would come to me all the time complaining about you. How you'd hurt her. I saw the bruises myself."

Eric was speechless. "What a bunch of lies! I'd never hurt my family!"

"Abby, sit." A council member ordered. "I think we've heard enough, Mr. Rolfe." Eric scoffed and a guard escorted him out of the room.

Then the council called in Murphy. "John Murphy, nice to see you again." Murphy rolled his eyes. "You and Spencer were on the dropship."

"Obviously."

"You two soon became close, yes?"

"Yep." _People who get tortured together usually form tight bonds,_ Murphy thought.

"Tell me what you know about Spencer and her father."

Murphy sighed. "Her father is a piece of fucking garbage. He abused her in every way."

"Verbally and physically?"

"Verbally, physically, and..." He trailed off.

"And, Mr. Murphy?"

"He used to rape her..." He almost whispered.

The council got quiet. "You're saying that he sexually abused his own daughter?"

"Yeah, are you people deaf?" Murphy asked angrily.

"I...I think we've heard enough. Thank you, Mr. Murphy. You can go now."

Murphy exited the room to see Spencer already waiting to go in. He saw the look in her eyes, she was scared. Murphy pulled her into a gentle hug. "You're gonna be okay, Spence." He whispered. Spencer nodded.

Now it was finally time for Spencer to be interviewed. "Spencer Rolfe, you committed a great crime on the Ark and the council fears for the lives around you. You tortured and mutilated your own father in attempt to murder him."

"Yes..." She blushed.

"What was the motive for this crime?" Spencer stayed silent. "Speak the truth, Spencer."

Spencer inhaled a shaky breath and started to speak. She told the council everything, as Abby advised her to do. By the time she was finished, she was sobbing and so was Abby.

"I'm so sorry, Spencer." Abby cried.

"We have to deliberate now."

Spencer, Alex, and Murphy waited together outside the council room, while Eric was kept separated from the kids. During all 15 minutes, the group stayed silent.

Murphy didn't crack any jokes or argued with Alex. They were just so desperate to hear the final decision. Then Abby opened the door and called Spencer in. Leaving Murphy and Alex alone, Murphy started bouncing his leg up and down because of how nervous he was. Two minutes later, the door opened and Murphy saw Spencer with the biggest grin on her face.

Spencer wasted no time and jumped into Murphy's arms. "I've been pardoned, and they're gonna arrest my father." Spencer laughed breathlessly.

Murphy grinned and spun Spencer around in his arms. Spencer pulled away and went to hug Alex, who was extremely happy for her as well.

"You know what? This is a cause for celebration." Murphy said. "Let's go have a drink."

"I'll join you guys later. I have to go and check up on my dad." Alex frowned.

"Suit yourself." Murphy said and dragged Spencer outside. "Ooo, some of Monty's old moonshine." Murphy said and poured two cups.

Spencer frowned, Clarke told her all about Mount Weather and how forty-seven of their people were trapped there. Murphy handed her a cup and she gladly took it.

Murphy started towards where Clarke and Finn were sitting. "Woah, wait. Do you have a death wish?" Spencer asked.

"What? Clarke loves me." Murphy smirked. "Check it out. They salvaged Monty's still from the dropship." Murphy sat down next to Clarke. "Now, I guess, you know, if they could just salvage Monty, huh?" Clarke gave Murphy a cold stare. "Easy. It was just a joke. Okay, Finn, you tell her we're cleared?"

"No."

"Well, it looks like our pardon for surviving includes our time on the ground. Now bigger fish to fry, I guess."

"We did what we had to do." Finn told Clarke.

"No. You did what you think you had to do." Spencer mumbled just loud enough for them to hear. She wanted to yell at Finn, even punch him but he gave her a glare and left.

Murphy whistled. "Trouble in paradise?"

"Just because they pardoned you, Murphy, doesn't mean I have." Clarke said.

Raven then came up to the trio. "Beat it, Murphy. Sorry, Spencer, but you too."

Murphy scoffed but listened to Raven. "Come on, Spence. Raven wants to have a little girl talk with Clarke."

Spencer and Murphy went to refill their cups, but then Alex finally joined them. "I thought you didn't drink anymore, Spencer?" Alex asked.

"Uh, I don't. But I thought I'd have a couple now that I'm officially pardoned. Plus, it's been a rough couple weeks."

"Hmm," Alex chuckled. "I remember you swore off alcohol after we got wasted and almost had sex that one time."

Murphy choked on his drink. "What?" He almost yelled.

Spencer sighed and downed the rest of her drink. "You really had to bring that up, didn't you?"

"Wait, were you two together? On the Ark?"

"Oh, no, no, no. We're just friends."

Alex laughed and put his arm around Spencer's shoulders. "Come on, Spence. Tell the truth."

"Uh, I am?"

"Dude, you know we've fooled around before." Alex teased. "I'll be the first to admit that we had little crushes on each other for a while."

"You know what, I'm getting pretty tired. So, I'm just gonna go. Night." Murphy said, slamming his cup on a table and storming off.

After Murphy was out of earshot, Spencer shoved Alex. "What the hell was that? You know we only fooled around once when we got really drunk."

"Come on, Spencer. I was just joking around with him. He's a joke man, right?" He grinned.

Spencer scoffed and ran after Murphy. She ran inside the Ark and tried searching for him, but he was nowhere to be found.

Spencer sighed and gave up. Right when she was going to head back outside, Abby walked up to her. "Your father's in custody." She smiled.

Spencer grinned and almost teared up. "Thank you so much, Abby."

"Now that he's gone, you can have his old room. If you want that is. I don't know if you have a place to sleep."

"Uh, sure. Thank you."

"You're welcome, sweetie. If you go straight then make two rights, it'll be the fourth door on the left." Abby said and walked off.

Spencer was starting to feel the ache of all the hiking she's done start to weigh on her, especially the injuries.

Spencer started walking to her new room, still worrying about Murphy. But she was so tired. She opened the door and took in all the features. It looked similar to her old place in space, but it definitely didn't feel like it.

Spencer jumped when she heard a knock on her open door. "Murphy."

"Hey, can I come in?" He asked timidly.

"Yeah, of course. I'm so sorry Alex was being such a jerk, he's normally not like that."

Murphy walked in and shut the door. "Did you really...fool around with him before?"

"Not in the way you're thinking. We were dumb kids, got drunk, and almost made a big mistake. Okay? He's nothing more than a close friend."

"And are we close friends? Just close friends?" He asked as he fiddled with his jacket zipper absentmindedly.

Spencer tensed up. "Why did you storm off when Alex said those things?"

Murphy shrugged. "I was angry."

"Why were you angry?"

Murphy laughed bitterly. "Man, and I thought men were supposed to be the oblivious ones."

Murphy walked towards Spencer, which made her back up. "I was angry. Angry because I hate imagining you with other guys."

Spencer felt the wall behind her, and Murphy was face to face with her now.

"Every time Alex, Bellamy, or even Finn comes anywhere near you or talks to you, I feel the urge to slit their throats open. Anytime someone puts a hand on you, I want to cut that person's hand off and burn it to ash."

Spencer started to feel her breath become unsteady. "Those are some violent thoughts, Murphy." She said softly.

"I can't help it." Murphy paused. "You've poisoned me, Spencer. You're...poison."

Spencer couldn't believe what she was hearing. _He's calling me poison?_ Spencer looked away from Murphy and focused on her feet, but Murphy brought his hand up and lifted her chin to look at him.

"But I also can't help that...I don't mind it. I like your poison...I...I like you, Spencer."

Spencer felt like all the oxygen left her body at that exact moment. "Murphy."

Murphy couldn't wait any longer.

Murphy gently grabbed Spencer's face and kissed her. Not on the forehead this time. Her lips.

Part of Spencer wanted to slap Murphy, but the majority of her melted into the kiss. Savoring every bit of it. She was shocked at how soft his lips were, and how nice they felt against hers.

Murphy always knew that Spencer's lips would feel perfect, even busted or blistered; they were perfect, she was perfect. To him, and that's all that mattered.

This kiss felt so overdue, for both of them. It was an odd moment of feeling like the kiss seemed to last a lifetime but so momentary all at once.

But despite Murphy's want and almost need to continue the all-consuming kiss, he finally pulled away and looked into Spencer's eyes. He almost expected hatred, but it was quite the opposite.

"God, you have no idea how long I've wanted to do that." Murphy huffed. Spencer smiled and chuckled. "So, since you haven't slapped me, does that mean you feel the same way?"

"I could still slap you." Spencer teased, and kissed Murphy again.

"Mm, yeah, you could. But wouldn't you agree that kissing me is much more enjoyable?" Murphy said and started kissing Spencer, tenderly wrapping his arms around her waist.

But before things could get too heated, Spencer pulled away. "Easy there, tiger." Murphy smiled. "As much as I'd love for this to continue, I'm really tired. I need sleep."

Murphy frowned and pouted, releasing his hold on her. "Well, fine then." He said and started to walk to the door.

"I didn't say you had to leave." Spencer called out.

Murphy smirked. "Well, well, well. Look who's showing her true colors."

Spencer rolled her eyes. "Just shut up and get in bed with me."

"You don't have to ask me twice."

~~~~~~~~~~  
 **Ahh, it finally happened!! The angst. I wuv😳**  
 **Hopefully it was worth the slowish burn.**


	19. Long Into An Abyss

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well, I feel left out." Spencer said after finding out about the mission the rest of the group went on without her.

"Just with your trial and all, we thought you needed some time." Clarke said.

Spencer rolled her eyes.

Clarke and Spencer were standing outside the Ark. Everyone was on edge after Thelonious Jaha came to camp when everyone thought he was dead, with the message that they had two days to leave or the Grounders would come to kill them all.

"Any news?" Finn asked when he walked up to the girls. Clarke shook her head.

Spencer has been ignoring Finn, she still felt uneasy around him. It did take a couple days for vision in her eye to come back completely after he hit her, so she had a valid reason. That and he also massacred a village. That kinda bothered her as well.

"Hey, Spencer."

"...hey."

Thankfully for Spencer, the conversation stopped there when Abby and Jaha walked out of the Ark.

Everyone turned their attention to the Chancellor and the ex Chancellor. "By now, you've all heard the rumor." Abby started. "And unfortunately, it's true. The Grounders are coming. We have a difficult decision to make. Thankfully, Chancellor Jaha has found his way back to us and we're discussing all options."

"But to be safe," Jaha started, "you need to pack, now. Whatever you can carry. We may need to leave at a moment's notice."

"Where will we go?" A random man in the crowd asked.

"I don't know is the answer. But I heard of a place. A City of Light. It's across the Dead Zone."

"What makes you think we'll make it there?"

"Because we made it here. I have faith. And right now, given the alternative...that's good enough for me."

"Not for us." Clarke spoke up. "If we leave, what happens to our people in Mount Weather?"

"As your mother said, that is a very difficult decision to make." Jaha replied. "But the time has come for each and every one of us to ask...is this how the story of our people ends? Did we come all this way just to die tomorrow? Because if we're not gone by the time that Sun rises, this is exactly what will happen."

"No decision's been made." Abby said. "In the meantime, please report to your station supervisor and gather emergency supplies."

Abby and Jaha went back inside, and everyone started scattering.

Suddenly, Bellamy came up and grabbed Spencer and Clarke's arms. "Hey, where have you been?" Clarke asked.

"In the dropship. You both need to come back with me right now." Bellamy replied.

"Why? What's happened?" Spencer asked.

"I'll explain on the way. Bring a med kit. Meet me at Raven's gate." Bellamy said in a hurry and walked away.

"This is my fault." Finn said suddenly. "The Grounders are attacking because of me."

"The Grounders are attacking because it's what they do." Clarke tried to reassure him.

Finn wasn't convinced. "You guys go with Bellamy. Your mom said no decision has been made. If that changes, I'll let you know."

Clarke nodded. "Come on, Spencer."

Spencer and Bellamy waited for Clarke to bring the med kit by Raven's gate. "Where's your leech?" Bellamy asked. Spencer gave him a confused look. Bellamy sighed, "Murphy."

"Oh." Spencer blushed. "Uh, he's probably around somewhere." She smiled.

"Why are you so smiley?"

"Um, no reason." She smiled.

Bellamy shook his head. "I don't even wanna know."

Finally, Clarke came with the med kit. Raven shut off the electricity on the gate so that the trio could escape without being shocked. On the way, Bellamy explained that him and Octavia found Lincoln...as a Reaper. They had him at the dropship.

As soon as they got there, they all climbed up the ladder on the second floor where Lincoln was. Lincoln tried charging at them as soon as they were in the room. "It's okay. It's okay. He's been restrained." Bellamy said.

"I can't believe we're back here again." Clarke said.

"Can you help him?" Octavia asked.

"I don't know..." Clarke replied. "I knew Mount Weather controlled the Reapers. I had no idea they were creating them."

"If they can do that to Lincoln, what are they doing to our friends?" Bellamy asked.

Lincoln just kept screaming at the group. Clarke couldn't even get close to him without putting herself in danger. Then Lincoln started shaking. "He's convulsing." Clarke said.

"So, what does it mean?" Octavia asked.

"Hey, what happened to his leg?" Spencer asked.

"...I shot him."

"Clarke, he's lost a lot of blood." Bellamy said.

Clarke tried to approach again, but jumped back when he tried to get loose. "Can you shine the light on his neck?" Octavia and Bellamy pointed their flashlights on Lincoln. "Needle marks."

"You think he's been drugged?" Bellamy asked.

"Maybe."

Suddenly, one of the ropes got loose and one of Lincoln's arms were free. He wasted no time grabbing Clarke. Octavia yelled and tried to help Clarke but Lincoln hit her and she smashed against the wall. Bellamy tried and started punching Lincoln's arm, but he let go of Clarke and grabbed Bellamy's neck and headbutted him.

Spencer quickly helped move Clarke out of the way. Lincoln tried getting everybody but thankfully his foot was still chained to the floor.

Bellamy grabbed an electric baton and went to shock Lincoln, but he soon pulled the chain out of the floor and tackled Bellamy before he could do anything. Spencer went to try to get Lincoln to stop punching Bellamy, but Lincoln punched her in the gut making her fall over.

Finally, it was Octavia that managed to hit Lincoln with a pole and knocked him out.

"Are you okay, Bellamy?" Octavia asked.

Bellamy nodded and looked to Spencer, who was still laying on the floor trying to catch her breath. "Spencer?" Spencer gave him a thumbs up and sat up.

"God, what did Mount Weather give him, steroids?"

To take extreme measures, the group chained Lincoln to the floor with a bunch of ropes and other things keeping him lying on the floor. "We have to stop the bleeding and get the bullet out. Hold his leg down." Clarke told them.

Octavia tried getting him to drink some water, but Lincoln spit it out and scared her. "I'll just get some more." She said and started for the ladder.

"O," Bellamy stopped her, "once the drug is out of his system, he'll be okay."

"You can't protect me from this one, big brother." She said and walked out.

Bellamy sighed. "She'll be okay, Bell." Spencer said. Bellamy nodded and gave her a thankful smile.

Bellamy and Spencer held Lincoln down as Clarke started taking the bullet out. It didn't take very long for Clarke and she started bandaging it. "Your mom would be proud." Bellamy said.

"My mom would know how to save him." Clarke replied.

Octavia finally came back and brought a friend. _Oh no._ Spencer recognized the Grounder from the village. The one Finn massacred. Bellamy immediately brought up his gun. "Bellamy, don't. He's Lincoln's friend and their healer." Octavia said.

The Grounder finally noticed Spencer in the corner, looking frightened at him. The Grounder's blood started to boil. "You!" He yelled and pointed at Spencer. "You were at the village!" Spencer started to tear up. "You let that boy murder my people!"

The Grounder started at Spencer but Bellamy still had his gun on him. "Stop right there!" Bellamy threatened. "She wasn't the one who murdered your people. She tried to stop him."

The Grounder still looked pissed, but with Bellamy still pointing his gun at him, he went to help Lincoln when he started seizing.

The Grounder pulled out a bottle from his kit. "What is that?" Clarke asked. The Grounder didn't answer, but instead said something in his language and was about to pour what was in bottle into Lincoln's mouth. But before a drop even hit Lincoln, Clarke stopped him. "Wait!" She yelled and stopped the drop.

The Grounder suddenly took out his knife. "Back off, right now!" Bellamy said.

Clarke repeated what the Grounder had said. "It's what they say before death. He's not trying to heal him. He's trying to kill him."

"Nyko." Octavia said. "Is it true?"

"Yes." The Grounder, who's name Spencer finally heard was Nyko, replied. "Death is the only way."

"Hold on." Clarke said. "There could be a way to bring him back."

"Not that I've seen."

"We have to go." A voice called out. "The camp's leaving." Finn appeared but stopped once he made eye contact with Nyko.

"You!" Nyko yelled and tackled Finn.

"Get off him!" Bellamy yelled and aimed his gun at the Grounder, yet again.

"You slaughtered my people." Nyko started choking him. "Elders. Children. Innocents."

"Nyko, you're killing him!" Octavia said.

"Blood must have blood!"

"Get out of the way!" Bellamy yelled.

"Bellamy, you are not shooting him!"

Clarke suddenly shocked Nyko with the shock baton and he fell to the floor, letting Finn go. Octavia's focus was not on Nyko anymore, but Lincoln. "He's not breathing."

Clarke felt his pulse, nothing. "His heart's stopped. Move." Clarke pushed Octavia out of the way and started doing chest compressions on Lincoln. After a few moments, Lincoln finally gasped for air.

Nyko looked on in shock. "He was dead. How did you do that?" He asked Clarke.

"You've tried bringing Reapers back before?" Clarke asked, Nyko nodded. "And they died like this?" Nyko nodded again.

"What is it?" Bellamy asked.

"I know how to stop the attack." Clarke said.

Clarke and Finn went back to the Ark to convince Abby they can turn the Reapers back into men, and to make an offer to the Grounders to have peace. "You think Clarke can convince them?" Spencer asked, breaking the silence.

"Of course." Bellamy replied. "Clarke can do anything she puts her mind to."

After another hour or so, Finn finally returned. "Thank God. Where's Clarke?" Octavia asked.

"Trying to stop a war." He replied.

Then Abby climbed up the ladder and kneeled next to Lincoln. "His pupils are unresponsive. Tie off his arm. As tight as you can." Abby ordered. Octavia quickly tied his arm. "Thanks to the supplies you brother found, Lincoln might have a chance."

Abby started filling a syringe. "What is that?" Octavia asked.

"This'll bring down his fever." As soon as she put the needle to his arm, Lincoln started thrashing. "Hold him down!"

"What's happening? Why isn't it working?" Octavia asked.

"His heart stopped." Abby said and quickly started doing chest compressions. Nyko kneeled next to Lincoln. "You're their healer?" He nodded. "Tilt his head back. Pull his chin down to open his airway." Abby kept doing the compressions, but then she stopped.

"You're stopping. What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry...he's gone."

"No, it's not possible. You're wrong." Octavia said and pushed Abby out of the way and started doing compressions.

"Octavia..." Bellamy said and kneeled beside her. Octavia started sobbing, and Clarke opened the hatch and walked in. Along with other Grounders. Bellamy reached for his gun.

A female Grounder looked over and nodded. "Kill them all." Another female Grounder said and unleashed her sword. Making everyone take out their weapons, and the group aiming their guns at the Grounders.

"Please, you don't have to do this." Clarke said.

"You lied." The female Grounder said. "And you're out of time."

Abby suddenly took her shock baton and struck Lincoln's chest with it. "Hit him again." Clarke said. Abby hit him again, and Lincoln gasped.

Octavia crawled to him. "Lincoln?"

"Octavia." Lincoln replied.

Octavia let out a breath of relief, and so did everyone else silently. The Grounders all sheathed their swords. _Whew, that could've gone a lot worse._

The journey home was relieving for Spencer. Usually she always feels uneasy in the woods, but now that the Grounders backed off and they might finally have a truce, she felt like there was not much to fear now.

Spencer was also glad she was going to see Murphy again. Ever since their kiss, they rarely spent time away from each other. Spencer hadn't talked to Alex ever since he made Murphy angry, she wanted to reconcile with him.

They finally made it back to camp, which was now being called Camp Jaha. Not what Spencer would've chosen, but she had no say. Spencer went to find Murphy as soon as she walked through the gates.

"Well, well, well. Look who's back." Murphy teased. Spencer smiled. "Where have you been?"

"Helping end a war."

"You were gone for almost two days and you give a vague answer?"

"Murphy, trust me, it's nothing to worry about right now." Murphy rolled his eyes. "Aw, did someone miss me?" Spencer teased.

"Nah. Monroe's been keeping me company." Murphy smirked.

Spencer punched Murphy's shoulder. "Asshole." She grinned.

~~~~~~~~~~


	20. Spacewalker

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

It was dark outside when Clarke finally came back to camp, and she did not have a happy look on her face.

Finn immediately ran up to her. Clarke ordered for the gates to be shut and rushed Finn away. Spencer was curious and went up to them. "What's going on?"

"You can't be out here." Clarke whispered to Finn.

Clarke and Abby embraced. "What did she say?" Abby asked. "Is there a chance for a truce?"

Clarke hesitated. "Yes."

"Clarke, what's wrong?" Spencer asked, anxiously.

"They want Finn." Clarke replied. "If we want a truce, we have to give them Finn."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Raven asked.

"That's their offer."

"That's not an offer."

"It's a punishment." Finn said. "For what happened at the village. Blood for blood."

"That's insane. There's no fucking way." Spencer argued.

"If we refuse?" Abby asked.

"They attack." Clarke replied.

People started to talk, saying that they should give up Finn. Their voices kept getting louder and louder. Spencer started to panic. _There's no way in hell that Clarke was gonna let the Grounders have Finn. No way in hell I'm gonna let them have Finn._

"Give him to the Grounders." A man came up.

"Back off!" Raven shoved him, which caused the man to try to start fighting back but Bellamy pushed him away.

"Raven. Raven. Raven, listen to me." Clarke started. "Nothing to going to happen to him. I promise, okay?"

Raven nodded.

"I'm not dying for him!" Another man said. "Spacewalker burned three months of oxygen from the Ark. He should've floated a long time ago!"

_Alright, that fucking tears it._

Spencer stormed up and shoved the man. "Back the fuck off asshole!"

The man suddenly punched Spencer, causing her to punch back even harder. Soon Raven joined and punched Major Byrne, causing them to arrest Raven and hold Spencer.

Soon, all the guards got everyone in order. Spencer stormed off, but Murphy quickly stopped her. "Woah, woah, what happened to your face?"

"Did you miss the fight or something?" Spencer replied.

"No, I saw it. Just didn't see you get involved. Probably should've known since you care about Spacewalker." Murphy turned Spencer's head to see her wound more clearly. He sighed. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up." Murphy took her hand.

Spencer pulled away. "I'm fine." She snapped. Murphy did not look amused. Spencer sighed. "Sorry, I'm just stressed out."

"Murphy!" Major Byrne came up to us.

"Nice shiner you got there, Major." Spencer teased.

"Do you want to end up in lockup like your friend Raven?" Spencer stayed silent. "Hmm, didn't think so. Here Murphy." Byrne handed Murphy a gun and walked away.

Spencer gasped. "How come you get gun privileges?"

Murphy shrugged. "Maybe I'm just more skilled than you." He smirked.

"Ha, very funny."

Spencer and Murphy walked around, just talking when they spotted Finn. "Hmm, we should go cheer him up." Murphy started to walk over to him, but Spencer grabbed his arm and shook her head. "Have you still not talked to him?" Spencer stayed quiet. "Come on." Murphy grabbed her hand and walked up to Finn.

"Hey, man." Murphy said and he and Spencer sat down beside Finn. "Bryne actually gave me a gun. Guess we really are screwed, huh?" Finn stayed quiet. "Look, we kicked their asses last time. We'll do it again."

"Lots of people died last time." Finn replied.

Then Bellamy and Clarke came up to them. "Hey. We're reinforcing our defenses. Doubles on the perimeter. No one's getting past that wire."

Finn stood up. "I'll see where they're thin."

"No, you should head inside. B corridor would be easy to defend, if it comes to that."

"I'm not gonna hide." Finn replied.

Then Spencer stood up. "Finn, it would be for the best."

"When did you start caring about me again, Spence?" Finn replied. But Spencer stayed silent.

"Look, right now, we have to think about keeping you safe." Clarke said. "I'm going to talk to Lincoln."

"Come on." Bellamy said. "Finn."

Finn hesitated but obeyed. When they were walking away, Murphy got up. "Hey. Any orders for me, princess?"

"Stay away from me." Clarke said.

Spencer rolled her eyes. "I'm just trying to be helpful." Murphy replied.

Clarke turned back to them. "You two were with him in the village."

"We tried to stop him, Clarke." Spencer said.

"Not hard enough." Clarke said and started to walk away.

"You know what. You wanna start blaming people, Clarke?" Murphy said. "He was out there looking for you." Clarke walked away.

"God, she's such a bitch." Spencer huffed.

"Tell me about it." Murphy sighed. "You should get some sleep."

"You should too."

Murphy smiled. "It's nice to know at least one person cares about me."

The next morning, Spencer woke up beside Murphy. He was still asleep. Spencer took in every detail about him, how his lips were slightly parted, all the scars on his face that were still healing. "I can feel you staring." Murphy mumbled.

"Can you blame me?" Spencer giggled.

"No. I guess I can't." Murphy sat up and yawned. "We should probably head out."

Spencer nodded. She and Murphy quickly got ready and headed out of the Ark. The camp was lively as usual, but tense. The day progressed and the camp started to hear chanting coming from the Grounders.

"Well, that's not eerie at all." Spencer looked over and saw Clarke rushing Finn into the Ark. Spencer sighed.

"They're just trying to scare us!" Bellamy shouted.

Spencer watched with Murphy as Abby, Clarke, and Bellamy walked up to the gate. "What are they doing?" Spencer thought out loud. Abby ordered the gate opened and started talking to the two Grounders that were positioned outside the camp.

Suddenly, a horn blew and the Grounders ran off on their horses. Bellamy ordered the guard to watch the woods.

"Don't shoot!" Everyone heard.

"It's Kane." Spencer said, feeling a little nervous.

Murphy quickly took her hand. "Hey, it's okay. You've been pardoned so he can't do anything." Spencer gave Murphy a thankful look and squeezed his hand.

As Kane walked by, he gave Spencer a nod. Instead of reassuring her like it should've, it made her uneasy.

"Spencer!" Raven ran up to her. "Come on. Abby is talking with Kane about Finn."

Spencer looked to Murphy. "Go on."

Spencer nodded to Murphy and ran off with Raven. She, Raven, and Bellamy were standing in the hall. Waiting. After some time, Abby finally walked out of the council's office. "What's happening?" Spencer asked immediately.

"You were in there a long time." Bellamy added.

"There was a lot to talk about." Abby said and continued walking.

"Well, what's going on?" Raven asked.

"There was a lot to talk about." Abby repeated.

"Hey, we are not turning him over to the Grounders." Spencer said.

"Step aside. Now." Spencer and Bellamy reluctantly moved aside. "We are all trying to find a way out of this." Abby said and walked off.

"They're gonna give him up." Bellamy said.

"Over my dead body." Spencer said. "We gotta get him out of here."

"Already thinking it. We'll take him to the dropship. Get supplies and Raven, work on powering down the fence. I'll get Finn." Bellamy said.

The group decided it would be best to split up. Bellamy made it to the dropship first, then Raven and Spencer. Finn and Clarke were late. They all went to search for them, but to no avail. Spencer arrived back first, frustrated. Then Bellamy. "Well?" Spencer asked. Bellamy shook his head.

Then Raven got back. "I checked again. Still no sign of them."

Bellamy sighed. "Where are they?"

"We shouldn't have split up." Raven sighed.

The trio suddenly heard footsteps. "Someone's coming." Everyone raised their guns, anticipating a Grounder. Spencer immediately lowered her gun when Murphy appeared. "Murphy? What're you doing here?"

"I believe I was invited." Murphy said, pointing at Raven.

"Thought we could use the extra gun." Raven added.

"Might be a good idea." Bellamy said.

"Well, in any case, I'm glad you're here." Spencer smirked.

"Finn should've been right behind you." Raven said.

"Don't worry. Spacewalker's gonna be fine." Murphy said and walked next to Spencer. "Hello, my darling." Murphy said and kissed her temple.

"Moving on to pet names, are we?" Spencer chuckled.

"Can you guys not do this right now?" Bellamy asked, annoyed.

"Hush, you're just jealous." Murphy teased and made a kissing noise at him. Bellamy rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Suddenly, Finn ran in the dropship...holding an unconscious Clarke. "What happened?" Bellamy ran up to them.

"A Grounder hit her on the head." Finn replied.

"Put her here." Murphy said and patted his hand on a mat.

"I need, uh, a bandage, a rag, anything." Bellamy said frantically.

Spencer immediately grabbed a rag from behind her and handed it to Bellamy. "Hold her head." He told Murphy. "Clarke, can you hear me?" Clarke stirred. "Clarke, you're gonna be fine. You just need to rest."

Spencer went to a stressed out Finn. "Hey, you okay? Are you hurt?"

Finn shook his head. "No, I'm fine." But continued to act frantic.

"Hey. It's just a bump on the head." Raven reassured. "Clarke's gonna be okay. Are you?" Finn stayed silent. "We'll figure this out."

"That's what Clarke said, right before I almost got her killed." Finn said and stormed out of the dropship. But Spencer was quick to run after him.

"Finn! It's not safe out here, you need to come back inside." Spencer said.

"I just keep putting everyone around me in danger!" Finn huffed. "I killed people. I almost killed you! And now I almost killed Clarke." Finn cried.

"Hey, hey. You didn't, okay? You didn't almost kill me or Clarke."

Finn turned to Spencer and ran his finger over the cut on Spencer's head that was still healing. "I did that to you...I hurt you..."

"You didn't mean too." Spencer whispered and started to tear up.

"I'm a murderer, Spencer." Finn sobbed.

Spencer didn't know what else to do, so she pulled him into a tight hug. "Finn," Spencer started, "we are going to get through this. No matter what happens. I will always protect you."

Finn pulled away. "You forgive me, Shorty?"

Spencer nodded. "Of course. You're my brother. I love you no matter what."

Finn nodded. "I don't know if Clarke will ever forgive me."

"I'm sure she'll come around. But right now, we need to go back inside. Okay?" Spencer said. Finn nodded. "Okay, come on."

After Spencer got Finn to go back inside, Bellamy ordered for the rest of the group to guard the outside. Raven came out and told the group that Clarke was awake, but then they saw them. The Grounders.

"We got company. Get out here." Bellamy yelled back to Finn and Clarke. As soon as the couple ran outside, Bellamy told them to get down.

"They're surrounding us."

"Everyone, back inside now!" Bellamy ordered.

Bellamy and Murphy peeked outside. "They aren't moving any closer." Murphy said.

"They're staying out of range. They'll be waiting until it's dark." Bellamy said.

"If we hit them now, we take them by surprise."

"We don't even know how many of them are out there." Clarke said.

"I'm not hearing any better ideas, Clarke."

"We'll give them something." Raven said suddenly.

"All they want is Finn." Bellamy added.

"Finn wasn't the only one at the village..."

"What are you talking about?" Clarke asked.

Spencer and Murphy suddenly paled. Spencer immediately walked over to Murphy's side. Spencer knew that if they had to choose, Murphy would be the one to go out there.

"Raven, hold on." Bellamy said, afraid that she would consider sending the Grounders Spencer instead of Murphy.

"Woah, woah, woah." Murphy started. "Raven, I came here to protect him. You were the one who wanted me to come. You..." Murphy started to realized and smiled. "That's why you asked me to come along."

"Enough Grounders saw him at the village. They'd believe he was the shooter." Raven said.

"You sick bitch."

"Raven, you don't mean this." Clarke said.

"You know what they do to people." Bellamy added.

"They want a murderer. We'll give them one." Raven said and aimed her gun at him. "Drop your gun."

Spencer quickly held up her own gun and pointed it at Raven. "Raven, no!" Spencer said and moved in front of Murphy.

"Out of my way, Spencer."

"Go to hell, Raven." Murphy said.

"Lower your gun, Raven." Spencer ordered. "Don't think I won't fucking shoot you."

"Raven, lower your gun." Clarke said. "Like it or not, he's one of us."

"I said, move out of my way." Raven said and started to move closer.

Spencer immediately put her finger on the trigger and was about to shoot but Finn finally intervened and made Raven lower her gun, but Spencer didn't lower hers.

Bellamy slowly put his hand on Spencer's shoulder and put his other hand on the rifle. "It's okay, Spencer." Spencer sighed and lowered her gun.

"We're not doing this." Finn said. "They've got us surrounded. The only thing we can do is stay and defend this place."

"I'm with you." Bellamy said. Everyone else nodded, but Spencer and Murphy.

"Murphy?" Finn asked. Murphy agreed. "Spencer?"

Spencer sighed. "Yeah...I'm with you."

"Murphy, go upstairs and watch the rear. I'll take the lower level. You three, take the front gate. Spencer, you go with Murphy. That's the plan, alright?" Finn ordered.

Murphy went first and climbed the ladder, then everyone else followed along with the plan. "Hey, Spence, wait."

"What is it?"

"I just wanted to let you know that I love you. And...I'm so sorry for leaving you when you needed me the most."

"Hey, it's okay Finn. You didn't know. And I love you too."

Finn took ahold of Spencer and hugged her. "May we meet again, Shorty." He said and kissed her cheek.

"Hey, we'll make it. Okay?"

Finn nodded. "Go on up. Let's do this."

Spencer smiled and nodded, climbing the ladder. "What took you so long?" Murphy asked once she climbed the ladder.

"Finn and I just talked. We're okay now." Spencer said and went to stand beside Murphy and looked through the scope of her rifle. "Are you okay, Murphy?"

Murphy sighed. "Fit as a fiddle."

"I'm sorry about Raven. She just cares a lot for Finn."

"Yeah, so do you. You didn't try to give me up. Raven just hates me."

Spencer sighed and looked back outside. "You see anything?"

"Nope. It's dead."

Suddenly, everyone heard trees rustling. "Someone's out there." Spencer aimed her gun. She gasped. "Finn?"

Finn turned and held his hands up. "He's surrendering." Murphy whispered.

"Finn, no!" Spencer quickly climbed down the ladder and ran outside. But she was too late. By the time she got outside, Finn was already taken by the Grounders. "No..."

Everyone rushed back to camp. Spencer was running ahead everyone else, Bellamy had to yell at her to slow down because it was dangerous to be separated. But Spencer didn't care.

She remembered what Finn said before she went up the dropship. _May we meet again..._ Tears started to prick Spencer's eyes. _He was saying goodbye._

Spencer finally slowed down until she stopped completely. She felt a panic attack coming on, she started to feel like she couldn't breathe. "Hey, are you okay?" Bellamy asked.

"No! No, I'm not okay." Spencer snapped.

Murphy motioned for everyone to walk ahead, and they listened. "Spence." Murphy whispered. "Finn is gonna be fine. We're gonna save him, okay? We just need to get back." Murphy held out his hand, and Spencer nodded and took his hand.

It was dark when they got back and everyone rallied to the fence. The Grounders were loud. There were putting up a wooden pole. "What is that?" Raven asked.

"It's for Finn." Clarke said. "They want us to watch."

"We're going to get him." Bellamy said. "We'll get in close, and hit them hard."

"Son..." Kane started. "there's thousands of them. Even if we could kill hundreds...they'd still wipe out this camp and your friend would still die."

"We have to at least try." Spencer said.

"Abby." Raven said. "Abby, we have to do something."

"No, Raven."

Clarke then looked over to Bellamy and Spencer and they all walked away from the fence. "Take this." Clarke handed Spencer her bag.

"Where are you going?" Bellamy asked.

"I'm going to talk to the Commander."

"What else do you have to say?"

"I don't know." Clarke snapped. "I don't know."

"Clarke, give me your hand." Raven said. Then Raven put a blade in Clarke's sleeve. "If she won't let him go, kill her. Things will go crazy, and then we'll grab you and Finn." Clarke stayed silent. "Clarke. You have to help him. I owe him my life."

Bellamy then opened the gate and Clarke walked out. Bellamy, Spencer, and Raven all went back to the fence and watched. They were all waiting for something to happen. Didn't matter if it was good or bad, just something needed to happen. It was so quiet. Spencer could almost hear the sound of her own heart beating.

_I feel so helpless..._

Everyone watched as Clarke walked closer and closer to the Grounder camp. Clarke finally got to the Commander's tent, one of the guards putting a spear to her stomach.

Finally, she let her pass when the Commander came out of her tent. Spencer yearned to hear what they were saying, but couldn't even make out what their lips were saying.

Spencer felt her breath stop when she saw the Grounders dragging Finn out and trying him to the wooden post. _Clarke is gonna save him. Clarke is going to save him._

They watched as Clarke spoke to the Commander. The camp was quiet as the Grounders started yelling and chanting in their foreign language.

Raven was visibly shaking and quietly begged for Clarke to kill the Commander as she asked. Then Clarke walked to Finn.

_What is she doing?_

Then Clarke kissed him.

_No, no, no._

Clarke pulled away. It didn't take long to see that she was holding the blade and Finn was bleeding.

Raven let out a horrific scream, but Spencer could not hear it. She couldn't hear the Grounders. She couldn't hear the sound of her own heartbeat anymore. She couldn't feel the chill of the wind, or the warm hand that was placed on her shoulder.

She couldn't feel anything. The world had become muffled.

~~~~~~~~~~  
😭😭😭


	21. Remember Me

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

"...Spencer? Raven?"

"Go away." Raven answered.

After Finn's death, Spencer and Raven were allowed to see his body. But seeing his body just made it more real and made Spencer angrier.

"Raven, I'm sorry." Clarke said solemnly.

"I said, go away!" Raven stormed up and yelled at Clarke.

"I know how hard this must be for both of you but I'm leaving with the Grounders, and Raven, I need you to keep working on the radio."

A couple of Grounders started to take Finn's body. Spencer slowly got up from kneeling beside Finn. "Wait, what are you doing?"

"They need to take him now." Clarke said.

"Like hell they do, get off!" Raven yelled.

"Give us a minute." Clarke told the Grounders.

"You agreed to this?"

"We're taking him back to where the massacre took place. There's a death ritual. It's the only way to get our people out of Mount Weather."

"Then I'm coming too...and don't worry. I'll bring your damn radio." Raven said and stormed off.

"Clarke." Spencer spoke up. "I'm going too."

Clarke tensed. "Um...Spencer. I don't think that's such a good idea."

"W-why?"

"Well, you were with Finn. It might make the village angry."

"I don't care, Clarke. I'm going and you can't stop me." Before Clarke responded, Spencer stormed off and went back to camp with Raven.

Spencer went to her room on the Ark and started packing a bag, and then Murphy rushed in. "Spence, where are you going?"

"To TonDC, the village where the massacre happened. Finn is going to be burned with the people he...the people he killed."

"Are you sure it's a good idea for you to go?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does. I haven't seen you cry once. You need to grieve."

"Murphy." Spencer scolded. "I'm fine. I don't need anyone, especially you, telling me what I need and don't need. So, screw off." Spencer snapped.

Murphy stayed quiet. "Fine. Have fun." Murphy snapped and walked out, making sure to slam the door.

Spencer jumped when she heard the door slam but quickly felt her face flush with anger. _Fuck him then._

After Spencer finally finished packing her bag, she headed out with Clarke's group and the Grounders.

If Spencer didn't just go through a horrific trauma, she'd probably enjoy the scenery. But it was kind of hard to do when she was walking behind a kart that carried her dead friend's body. Raven was sitting beside his corpse.

Spencer started thinking about how many times she held a grudge against him, all the times she thought she hated him.

_I wish I had more time._

Bellamy noticed Spencer hadn't shown any emotion since Finn's death. It worried him, almost as much as he worried about Clarke. "Spencer, how are you?"

"I'm fine."

Bellamy sighed. "You're allowed to grieve, you know?"

"Do we have to talk about this now?"

"No. But I just...you can talk to me, you know? I cared about him too." Spencer didn't say anything. Bellamy decided to back off, he didn't want to upset her or anger her.

After walking a few more miles, it finally got dark. Spencer noticed a green sign, it said Ton DC.

The Grounders decided to set up camp. Though the sides were split, Clarke and Bellamy set up their sleeping equipment near the Grounders.

Spencer thought it was idiotic. She set up her equipment far away from both sides, and laid down with her back turned to the rest of the group. All Spencer could think about was Finn. About how Clarke killed him, and his dead body...and his last words to her. Spencer felt a single tear escape and ran down her nose.

"Spencer?" She turned to see Bellamy and quickly wiped the tear away. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to sleep, what does it look like I'm doing?"

"It's not safe to be so far away from the rest of us."

"Oh, yeah? Like it's safe to be sleeping near the Grounders?"

Bellamy sighed. "Spence, come back. Please. I won't be able to sleep because I'll be watching out for you all night."

Spencer scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I never asked you to worry about me."

"I know." Bellamy decided to sit next to Spencer, knowing it was going to take awhile to convince her to sleep close to the group.

"Do you think Clarke did the right thing?" Spencer's voice was small, barely audible, but Bellamy heard her question.

Bellamy looked over to Clarke, who was laying on the ground next to the campfire and sighed. "Yeah. At least, I hope so."

Spencer felt her lip tremble and bit down, hoping to muffle her whimpers. "He...he would've been tortured if she hadn't...right?"

Bellamy turned to look at Spencer when he heard her shaky voice. The sight alone almost made him burst into tears. Spencer's eyes were red, with thick tears constantly rolling down her pink cheeks.

"Clarke had to kill him..." Spencer looked into Bellamy's eyes with desperate eyes.

Before he could stop himself, Bellamy took Spencer in his arms and had tears pricking his eyes, quickly falling onto the crying girl's shoulder.

Bellamy nodded. "Yes." He whimpered.

The two just held each other, crying and mourning the loss of their best friend.

"I hope this sacrifice won't be in vain. I don't know if I'd be able to handle that." Spencer said when she finally pulled away from Bellamy's embrace.

"It won't be in vain. We won't let that happen." Bellamy said as he put his hand on her shoulder.

Spencer nodded and smiled weakly.

Bellamy smiled and pulled Spencer into another hug. "Now. Can you please come back with me?"

Spencer sighed and decided she didn't have the strength to argue with Bellamy anymore. Bellamy sensed that she was finally convinced, so he stood up and reached his hand out to Spencer.

Despite not trusting the Grounders, she set up next to Clarke and Bellamy. "If a Grounder cuts my throat in my sleep, I'll come back and haunt you, Bell."

Bellamy chuckled. "I wouldn't expect anything else."

Everyone woke up at dawn, expecting to get to their destination by noon. Ever since she got to ground, Spencer's favorite thing was the sunrise. Part of the sky was still a deep blue, but the other part was orange, pink, and purple. Beautiful colors spread across the sky like a child scribbled the sky with crayons.

It all felt kind of grey to Spencer now. But when Spencer looked beside her, Bellamy smiled at her and she felt a little better.

As expected, the group got to TonDC by noon.

Spencer started to feel anxious from going back to the place where the massacre happened. They all stopped at the gate. "We need to disarm before we enter." Lincoln said.

Everyone started to disarm, some were a little hesitant. Some being Bellamy, Spencer, and Raven. Spencer reluctantly gave up her rifle and a few knifes, feeling uncomfortable when the Grounder got a little handsy.

Spencer found it somewhat amusing that the Grounder with Raven kept finding knifes on her. But eventually, the Grounder told the Commander it was all clear.

As soon as they walked through the gates, the villagers started praising the Commander but it quickly turned into shouts of protests.

Spencer saw the looks in their eyes, pure hatred. Especially towards her. _And I thought everyone on the Ark hated me._

Bellamy kept Spencer close as some villagers started to yell and try to spit on her. One man stopped the Commander, but her guard started beating him before Clarke told him to stop.

"The Sky People march with us now!" The Commander, Lexa, started. "Anyone who tries to stop that will pay with their life."

"Warm welcome."

After everyone calmed down, well, mostly everyone, the Grounders started building the pyre where Finn and his victims will be burned. Bellamy kept glancing at Spencer, getting worried about her again.

The Commander started speaking after everyone else gathered around, but in their Grounder language so they couldn't understand her.

After listening, Spencer could only make out what a couple words meant. "Kru kom TonDC," Lexa started. Kru. Spencer had heard their group been called Skai Kru. _So, maybe Kru means people? So, people of TonDC._ That's as far as Spencer got before Lincoln started translating for them.

"People of TonDC, in fire we cleanse the pain of the past."

Then the Commander was given a torch, then she turned to Clarke and gave her the torch. "Yu gonplei ste odon." Clarke said and lit the wood on fire. Then Clarke and Lexa stepped down.

Everyone watched as the rest of the pyre caught fire. Eventually, people started to walk off, but Spencer stayed. She watched until the bodies and wood were nothing but ash on the ground.

Everyone gathered in an underground room, where a large feast was set decoratively on a long table. The Grounders on one side, the Sky People and Lincoln on the other.

"Please, accept this gift Commander." Kane said. "We drink this at special occasions. I believe this qualifies." He said, handing over a bottle of alcohol to Lexa.

"Thank you, Marcus of the Sky People."

"You're welcome, Lexa...Kom Trikru. Just, uh, don't drink too much of it."

"Clarke, let us drink together."

"It would be my pleasure." Clarke replied.

The drinks were poured, but before they drank, Lexa's guard took a sip first and handed it back to Lexa. "Tonight, we celebrate our newfound peace. Tomorrow, we plan our war. To those we've lost." Lexa held up her cup. "And to those we shall soon find."

Then all hell broke loose when Lexa's guard doubled over and fell to the floor. "It's poison." Bellamy was quick to shove Clarke's cup out of her hands before she brought the shiny cup to her lips.

Indra, one of Lexa's advisors, quickly drew her sword. "It was the Sky People!"

The Grounders moved the tables and everyone was guarding each other. "It wasn't us!" Clarke shouted. "You have to know it wasn't us!"

Then all the Grounders in the room starred searching everyone, not caring about being rough. Spencer struggled as a Grounder was pushing and shoving her, finally stopping when he pulled something out of her pocket.

Spencer's heart dropped when the Grounder was holding a small silver vial, an empty one. "No, that's not mine..." Spencer stuttered. "I swear, it's not mine!"

Lexa looked at the vial and scowled. "No Sky Person leaves this room!"

Spencer sat herself in a corner of the room when the Grounders cleared out. A whole cluster of emotions poured into her brain that gave her a migraine.

Spencer was pissed off. _A Grounder must've set me up._ She was also scared. _What are they gonna do to me if I can't convince them it wasn't me?_ Also, a strange part of her couldn't care less.

Bellamy and Raven soon came up to her. Spencer sighed. "I know what you're gonna ask."

"I have to know, and tell me the truth. Did you try to poison her?" Bellamy asked.

"No, Bellamy. I swear, I didn't." Spencer huffed.

"Spencer." Clarke walked up to them. "I need to know the truth."

"I'd step back if I were you." Raven threatened.

"Raven, were you in on it? You wanted me to kill Lexa yesterday. If you both tried to poison her, I need to know."

Then suddenly, Raven punched Clarke in the face. "You're the only murderer here!"

Spencer noticed Clarke looking over Raven's shoulder. "Leave me alone." Clarke said. "You gave me no choice. Why did you turn yourself in?" Clarke ranted, then quickly went off in the other corner of the room.

The whole room was filled with a sense of dread, waiting for a resolution to happen. Then it did. The Grounders came back, and Indra said something in the Grounder language and a few Grounders started marching toward Spencer.

"Wait, she didn't poison anyone!" Bellamy yelled.

"I argued for all of you to die." Indra said. "But Commander is merciful. She wants only one."

"But she's innocent." Lincoln argued.

"I don't care. They move, they bleed."

Spencer felt like fainting when the Grounders pushed Bellamy out of the way and grabbed her roughly and started dragging her out of the room, faintly hearing Octavia protest.

Spencer tried to calm herself down as she got closer and closer to the post she would be tied up to. She tried not to let the Grounders see the fear in her eyes. But she soon started to tremble as she was finally in place, hands bound above her head and the Commander in front of her.

"I take no joy in this, Spencer." Lexa started. "But this time, justice will be done."

Spencer started to feel her bottom lip tremble as Lexa raised her knife to her arm. She bit her lip and tried not to scream when Lexa's knife slid down, creating a gash in her arm.

Up next was Indra, and she wasn't as merciful as Lexa and lifted up Spencer's shirt and made a long cut on her stomach. This time, Spencer let out a loud, painful yelp. She could see the bloodlust in Indra's eyes as she sliced her open.

Spencer could hear Bellamy protesting the barbaric ritual, but that tiny glimmer of hope that Spencer once had was now gone. Her spirit ripped to shreds like her skin every time someone got a turn with the knife.

Spencer started to feel faint.

Some Grounders gave light cuts, but others made deep gashes in the skin almost as deep as Indra's. Spencer started to see the world in tunnel vision, the tunnels just got thinner and thinner. The last thing Spencer heard before the world turned black was Clarke yelling, "Stop!"

Spencer bolted upright when she felt cold water on her face. "Hey, hey, shush. It's okay."

Spencer's eyes adjusted and saw Bellamy, Clarke, and Abby by her side. "What happened?" Spencer asked.

"Clarke saved the day, as usual."

"More like saved your life." Abby added. Spencer groaned as she felt burning pressure on her wounds. "Hush. We're almost done with stitching."

Spencer looked to her left and saw the Grounder that searched her on the post, getting cut up by his fellow Grounders. She felt a relief wash over her. "Second time I've been tortured by Grounders. I must have a record." Bellamy cringed and shook his head. "Sorry, bad joke."

"You're too much like Murphy. At least you can still joke about things." Bellamy said.

Spencer tensed when she heard his name. She started to feel bad about snapping at him, she knew she would have to apologize when they got back to camp.

Despite Bellamy's protest, Spencer got up from where she was laying and watched the Grounder get tortured along with everyone else, but probably enjoyed it more than others. Everyone continued to watch as Lexa took out her sword and shoved it into the Grounder's chest.

"We're not so different from them, are we?"

~~~~~~~~~~


	22. Survival of the Fittest

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

Warning: Things get slightly spicy😳  
(Nothing too explicit tho)

~~~~~~~~~~

After a long night of nightmares and not being able to sleep for Spencer, it was finally time to head back to camp. "Hey, uh, Clarke. Where's Bellamy?"

Clarke explained where Bellamy was, and Spencer was not amused. "To think I'd be informed about these things." Spencer was pissed, but more worried about Bellamy. She had already lost one person she cared about on the ground; she didn't want to lose another.

That thought made Spencer rush to find Murphy as soon as they got back to camp, well, try to rush. One of the deeper cuts was on her leg, so she had to deal with that limp for a couple days. But Spencer quickly realized that Murphy is found when he wants to be found.

Spencer sighed, and walked back to her room. The room looked the same, unkept and dusty. But there was one thing that Spencer didn't expect to be there.

Spencer exhaled a quiet breath of relief when she saw Murphy laying on her bed, asleep.

Spencer found herself nervous and awkward. _Should I wake him or let him sleep?_

Spencer didn't have to decide when she accidentally bumped into a table and knocked over a couple books, and that made a loud noise. Spencer cringed and almost face palmed herself, but jumped when Murphy bolted up with his knife at the ready.

Murphy quickly lowered his knife when he saw that it was just Spencer. He then quickly noticed that Spencer was all cut up and her clothes bloody. He quickly ran to her and looked over her. "Oh my god, Spence. What the hell happened?"

"Funny story actually..."

"No bullshit, okay, what happened?" Murphy snapped. Spencer tensed up and looked away from him. Murphy sighed. "Hey...I'm sorry. Please, just tell me."

"Um, well, the Grounders thought I tried to poison the Commander so they tied me up and everyone took turns cutting me before Clarke proved that I was innocent." Spencer nervously giggled.

Murphy was pissed. He suddenly turned away and kicked the table away. "Goddamn it, Spencer! I told you it wasn't a good idea for you to go!"

Spencer felt tears prick her eyes, she had never seen Murphy this angry at her before. "Like I wanted to be tortured again on purpose..." Spencer said calmly.

There was a deadly silence in the room. Murphy wasn't talking, not even looking at Spencer. She didn't know what would happen since he was so hotheaded.

Murphy sighed. "I just don't like seeing you hurt." Spencer stayed silent. Murphy slowly walked to her and took hold of her hands. "I'm sorry for yelling. I'm sorry for what I said before you left. I've just been really worried. I guess I was right to be."

"It's okay, Murphy. I'm sorry for snapping at you." Spencer almost whispered.

Murphy shook his head. "You have nothing to be sorry about. I know that everyone grieves in their own way."

Spencer sighed. "I don't wanna think about that. I'd much rather think about anything else."

Murphy smirked. "Let me distract you then."

Murphy gently grabbed Spencer's face, but paused just as his lips were about to touch hers. He looked at her, eyes begging for permission. Spencer quickly closed the gap between them.

Soon the kiss turned passionate. They both missed each other so much. It felt as though the world kept splitting them apart. Sometimes Murphy felt like he wanted to keep Spencer all to himself, lock her away and keep her safe from everything. But he knew better than that, Spencer would probably beat his ass if he tried.

After everything that's happened in the last 48 hours, Spencer finally felt a little less stressed. She was still stressed, but being with Murphy distracted her. And a distraction was just what she needed right now.

Spencer snaked her hands up to Murphy's head, twisting and tangling her fingers in his hair. Feeling Spencer pull at his hair almost made Murphy groan, he really didn't want this to end.

Murphy soon lifted Spencer's legs around him and sat her down on the table that he previously kicked in his rage.

Spencer gasped as Murphy started kissing her neck. "Is this okay?" Murphy asked timidly. She quickly nodded her head yes. Murphy smiled and continued working on her neck.

Spencer bit her lip and moaned softly as Murphy found her sweet spot. But he suddenly felt nervous and stopped. "Uh, Spence." Murphy breathed. "Is it okay if we stop?"

"Yeah, yes, of course." Spencer said, catching her breath.

Murphy took Spencer off the table and they both stood there, looking into each other's eyes. "Um, the Grounders are gonna be here for the meeting soon. We should probably head down there." Spencer cleared her throat.

"Yeah, okay, sure." Murphy stuttered.

Hand in hand, Murphy and Spencer walked down the Ark halls and entered the room where the meeting was being held.

Not two minutes later, the Grounders walked into the room, Indra leading.

Murphy felt Spencer tense up and held her close. They saw a couple of Grounders watching them from across the room. Kane started his speech about how the Sky People and the Grounders needed to work together to defeat the Mountain Men, but then a Grounder walked up to Spencer and Murphy.

"You got a problem?" Murphy asked. The Grounder just stared down at the couple and started speaking in his language. "I'm sorry, man. I don't speak Grounder." Then the Grounder knocked the cup that Murphy was holding out of his hands and Murphy was quick to shove him.

Spencer was quick to put a hand on Murphy's shoulder to try to calm him. "Mr. Murphy." Kane called out. "Apologize to that man."

"For what? He was the one who came at me."

"Two days work detail."

"Work detail? I just told you I didn't-"

"Care to make it three?" Kane interrupted.

"Kane, chill out! Murphy didn't-"

"You want to join him, Ms. Rolfe?"

Spencer and Murphy gave each other a look. Murphy huffed and walked away with Spencer.

"You're going to burn just like your friend."

That one sentence was all it took for all of Spencer's rage to be released. Murphy was about to punch the Grounder but Spencer beat him to it.

Of course, the Grounder retaliated and punched back even harder, making Spencer's stiches bleed. But it didn't stop there. Murphy joined in and then everyone else followed suit.

It took a while before everyone calmed down and stopped fighting. Murphy quickly rushed Spencer to Abby after the fight. "You know, when you're injured, please leave the fighting to me."

As soon as Abby saw Spencer, she gave her that disappointed mom look and touched up her stitches and begged her not to get in anymore fights. "Well, I guess it's off to work detail."

Spencer gave Murphy an annoyed look and gave an unenthusiastic, "Yay."

"Who knew we'd be mopping floors for getting into a fight with Grounders." Murphy said.

"It's not something that crossed my mind." Spencer replied.

Murphy walked to the window and saw the guards training with their rifles. "Save your bullets for the Grounders."

"I take it you don't approve." Jaha suddenly appeared. Murphy and Spencer stayed quiet as continued mopping the floor. "I asked you a question."

"Who cares what I think?"

"I do. Or I wouldn't have asked."

"I think the Grounders can go to hell." Murphy replied.

"And what about you, Spencer?" Jaha asked.

Murphy looked to Spencer, awaiting her answer. She sighed. "I'm not their biggest fan. Most of them, anyway."

"I got you both off work detail."

"Why?"

"You both knew my son." Jaha replied. "And I'd like you to take me to his grave. Now that there's a truce, it's safe for me to go and say goodbye."

"Then you can get someone else to take you." Murphy replied.

"I'm told the graves are unmarked. You can show me which is his."

Spencer sighed. "I'll take you there."

Jaha gave her a grateful look. "Murphy?" He stayed quiet. "You can hold the mop...or you can hold the gun." Jaha pulled out a handgun. Murphy looked to Spencer and grabbed ahold of the gun.

Murphy watched Spencer pack her bag for the hike. "Do you think you'll be able to go there?" Spencer froze. She didn't know, but she already agreed to it. _Can't back out now._ "You can stay if you want."

"I'll be fine." Spencer packed her last item and closed her bag. "Let's go."

Spencer and Murphy led the way to the dropship while Jaha was taking his sweet time, admiring every single leaf on every tree. "It's extraordinary, isn't it?"

"Oh, just give it a few days." Murphy replied.

"I may not know everything that happened before I got down here but I do know something about what you're feeling, son."

Murphy stopped. "Don't call me that. I'm nobody's son. You made sure of that."

"I remember your father." Jaha replied.

Murphy chuckled bitterly. "Yeah, right."

"Alex Murphy. Convicted of theft of rationed medicine. He stole it to take care of you. I remember them all."

"So, I guess that means you remember my mother?" Spencer asked.

Jaha nodded and smiled fondly. "Yes, I remember Linda. One of the more heartbreaking executions. I never knew her to be a violent woman."

"Yeah, that's because she wasn't." Jaha gave her a confused look. "You floated my mom because she acted in self-defense. She saved me from getting my ass handed to me by my pathetic excuse of a father." Jaha stayed silent.

Murphy sighed. "We're here." They all stopped and looked at the beaten dropship. "Home, sweet home."

Spencer looked at the massive hole in the dropship and remembered the time Murphy tried to hang Bellamy, she shivered at the thought.

"Come on, graveyard's this way." They quickly made their way to the graves, Spencer pointed out which one was Wells'. "Guess we'll just leave you to it."

Spencer and Murphy walked away to give Jaha his space. They didn't walk far from the graveyard, but Spencer wanted to see the dropship. She looked to Murphy and saw that he was not paying attention, he was in his own little world. Spencer smiled and walked into the dropship.

Spencer sighed, the last time she was at the dropship, Finn was taken by the Grounders. Then he died.

Spencer started to tear up. _No, fuck._ She hated this feeling. _What if I could've saved him? Why couldn't I see that he was saying goodbye? I could've stopped him. I'm so useless. So fucking useless._

Spencer couldn't help it, the tears started flowing. She felt like she wanted to scream. She was so angry. Angry at the Grounders, at Lexa, at herself.

As if she wasn't in control, Spencer suddenly punched the wall. Her hand stung, but it felt good. She punched the wall again, tearing the skin off her knuckles. She struck again, and again, and again until her hand bled.

Spencer looked down at her hand, patches of skin was ripped off her knuckles and it was dripping with her blood. She flexed her hand, it was kind of stiff.

_God, I'm so stupid._

Murphy looked around him, Spencer wasn't with him. He sighed and got up from where he was sitting and went to the dropship. He panicked as soon as he saw Spencer. "Oh no, baby, what have you done?" He lifted up her hand. "We have to clean this."

Murphy sat Spencer down and started bandaging her hand. "Why did you do this?"

Spencer sighed, and felt the tears filling her eyes and sliding down her face. "It's my fault Finn's dead."

"What? No. Why would you think that?"

"Before he...before he gave himself up, he said goodbye to me. May we meet again."

Murphy shook his head. "You couldn't have known he meant that as a goodbye."

"But I should have!" Spencer cried. "I should've..."

"I know I probably won't be able to convince you, but I know for a fact that Finn wouldn't want you to think that. It's not your fault Spence."

Spencer stayed silent, but kept letting tears flow freely from her sad eyes. Murphy didn't know what to do, so he just pulled her into a hug and let her cry on his chest for awhile. "You feel better?"

"No." Spencer chuckled weakly. "But I'll be okay."

Murphy nodded. "I know you will be." He got up. "I'll be right back." He left the dropship can checked on Jaha. Murphy sighed when he saw him still out there, and he headed back inside the dropship. "Doesn't look like he's even close to done."

"I'd imagine it takes a long time to say goodbye to a lost child." Spencer replied. "What'll we do until then?"

"I have a couple ideas." Murphy smiled. "Only if you're up to it."

Spencer giggled nervously and blushed. "Come here then."

Murphy smirked and went back over to Spencer. "Let's go up the ladder." Spencer gave him a questioning look. "For more privacy." He chuckled.

The couple both quickly climbed the ladder and as soon as Spencer shut and locked the latch, Murphy attacked her with a hungry kiss.

Spencer didn't waste any time tangling her fingers in Murphy's hair, and him not holding back a groan. Hearing him groan made a strange feeling wash over Spencer. Strange, but good. She pulled on his hair again so she could hear him again, and Murphy did not disappoint.

Murphy went to kiss her neck, but Spencer stopped him. "Let me." Spencer said, and started kissing his neck instead.

Murphy felt his knees go weak and sighed in pleasure. Soon after, he lowered Spencer onto the floor and continued kissing her. He soon felt nervous again. He exhaled a shaky breath and closed his eyes.

"Hey, are you okay?" Murphy heard Spencer ask sweetly.

"I, uh." Murphy paused. "I'm just bit nervous." He admitted, embarrassed.

"Hey, look at me." Murphy opened his eyes and looked into Spencer's. "It's okay to be nervous. I am too. But we don't have to do this."

"No. No. I want to. I really want to."

"Well, just know that we can stop whenever you want. I mean it, and I promise I won't be mad or anything. I'm not gonna force you to do anything." Spencer said, trying not to remember all the times she wasn't given a choice.

Murphy nodded, and kissed her.

The couple continued kissing for a few minutes, and soon started taking off layers of clothing. Now it was time for Spencer to get nervous, Murphy never saw all her scars, new and old.

Murphy helped Spencer take off her shirt. He was taken aback slightly when he saw many cuts on her torso.

Spencer started to cover herself but Murphy stopped her. "You don't need to do that." He quickly took off his shirt and revealed all his scars. Spencer felt a little less embarrassed when Murphy showed her. "You're beautiful, Spencer. With or without scars."

The couple continued, feeling more and more anxious to be as close to each other as humanly possible. Spencer and Murphy had never felt anything this intense before. The power of lust and desire filled the room. The couple's souls finally intertwining with each other and their bond growing stronger with every gasp and sigh that echoed around them.

Spencer and Murphy couldn't wipe the smiles off their faces when all was over and finished. They quickly got dressed and gave each other one last kiss before they climbed down the ladder and out of the dropship.

They checked on Jaha to see that he was still kneeled at Wells' grave. Murphy sighed and they both walked over to him. "Are you about done?" He asked slightly annoyed. "We gotta be heading back."

"How well did you know him?" Jaha asked.

"Well enough to be hung for his murder." Murphy replied, making Spencer relive an unwanted memory. Jaha looked up in shock. Murphy smirked. "Clarke sugercoated it for you, didn't she?"

"Of course, she did." Spencer huffed.

"What happened to my son?"

"Twelve-year-old girl stabbed him in the neck with a knife she took from me." Murphy answered.

Jaha paused. "Why would she do that?"

"She couldn't kill you." Jaha stepped back. "Yeah. So, you got a lot of blood on your hands, Chancellor. And every single one of them, including your son would still be alive if you hadn't sent us down here."

"Murphy..." Spencer whispered.

"If I hadn't sent you, they would've died on the Ark with the rest of us. And we would've never known that Earth was survivable. Their sacrifice is why we are here. Good can come out of even the darkest acts, John."

Then Jaha started walking towards the dropship. Murphy sighed. "Camp You is that way." Murphy said, pointing in the direction of Camp Jaha.

"We'll rest at the dropship for a while."

Murphy shook his head. "Suit yourself. Just don't go up to the second floor."

The trio sat on the floor of the dropship soon after they entered. Both Spencer and Murphy were exhausted and wanted to sleep, but Jaha first offered them food. The couple both refused. "You sure? You must be hungry."

"No one gives anything without expecting something in return."

"That's a cynical way to go through life, John." Jaha replied.

"You pull us off work detail, offer us food. Why are you being so nice?"

"Everyone deserves a second chance. That's why we sent the hundred to the Earth in the first place."

"What a load of crap. You didn't give a damn about us. You still don't. That's why you're not fighting for those kids in Mount Weather." Murphy replied.

"No, I have to think of everyone. I know you don't want to hear this, but sometimes, you have to sacrifice the few to save the many. Like I said, good can come out of the darkest acts."

"Then you can take it from me that no good has come from any of this. I was pardoned, slate wiped clean. I'm still treated like dirt, from everyone but Spencer."

"You made mistakes. So have I."

"Well, I'm nothing like you, Chancellor."

"No? We both should've died several times over. We both have suffered at the hands of Grounders. We both have been betrayed and imprisoned by our own people."

"So, there's no place for either of us. Great." Murphy chuckled. "I thought you were supposed to be inspiring."

"There is a place for all of us. When I first landed on Earth, I met a woman who spoke of a place beyond the dead zone. A place where everyone is accepted. A City of Light."

Spencer rolled her eyes at his mention of this City of Light yet again. "That sounds like a fairytale." Murphy said.

"Or a second chance?" Jaha suggested.

"You don't even know if it's real." Spencer added.

"You're right, I don't. But I believe."

Murphy chuckled. "Okay. Well, that's good for you, Chancellor. Very good." Then he set up his bag on the floor as a pillow and laid on it, pulling Spencer down to lay with him.

"I'm going to find it, John. And once I do, I'm going to come back and lead my people home."

Spencer sighed and shook her head, and snuggled into Murphy. _Sounds like bullshit._

Murphy and Spencer were awoken by shouts coming from the outside the dropship. They quickly followed Jaha out to find him greeting a bunch of people from camp. "What the hell is this?" Murphy asked.

"We're going to the City of Light." Jaha replied nonchalantly.

"Wait, you guys are going now?" Spencer asked.

"There's a million ways to die out there." Murphy added.

"Well, if it's not your time, nothing can kill you." Jaha said. "But if it is your time, it only takes one."

Murphy sighed. "Do you even have a map?"

"No." Jaha smiled.

"Dude, then how do you know where you're going?" Spencer said.

"We don't, but I will not be ruled by fear. You want to stop being treated like a criminal then you have to stop thinking that's all you are. Take this leap of faith with me, John Murphy and Spencer Rolfe. And let me show you there is so much more for you then this." Jaha spoke and walked off with his group.

Murphy turned to Spencer. "Are you willing to follow me? Even though we may not make it, even though this City of Light is probably not real. Will you follow me?"

Spencer did.

"I want to. I really want to. There's just some things I need to take care of before I go."

"You aren't going?"

"I'll catch up." Spencer gently grabbed Murphy's face and kissed him. "I'll find you. I promise."

~~~~~~~~~~  
 **Sorry to anyone who wanted smut. Just not my thang.**


	23. Coup de Grace

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

Murphy watched as his lover ran in the direction of Camp Jaha.

_What does it mean, she has things to take care of?_

Murphy didn't understand Spencer's intentions, or how she'd be able to find them again if they're traveling to the Dead Zone.

Instead of questioning it more, Murphy jogged to catch up with Jaha's group. "Where's Spencer?" Jaha asked.

Murphy sighed. "She said she'd catch up." He shrugged when Jaha gave him a questioning look.

Murphy then got an idea.

He took out his knife and carved a symbol into a tree, and he continued doing that so Spencer wouldn't have a lot of trouble if she was planning to follow them.

● ● ●

Spencer felt guilty for leaving Murphy, but if she was going to die searching for a place that doesn't exist, she wanted to get a few things done.

She started to feel nervous as she entered the gates of Camp. Her first stop was going to see Alex.

"Where have you been?" Alex asked immediately after Spencer found him.

"Murphy and I took Jaha to see his son's grave." Spencer replied.

"Look, Spence, I'm really sorry about what I said to Murphy. I guess I was just jealous of your relationship with him."

"Why would you be jealous?"

"He was stealing my best friend..."

Spencer sighed. "We're still best friends." She pulled Alex into a hug. "But I need a favor from you..."

"Yeah, of course."

"You're gonna hate it."

"I probably will. But just tell me."

Spencer hesitated. "I need you to...I, uh, need you to help me get into my father's cell."

Alex's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Why?"

"I need to tell him some things."

Even though Alex was wary of Spencer's intentions, he still wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt and help out his friend any way he could.

They came up with a plan. Alex would distract the guards long enough so Spencer could sneak into Eric's cell and so she could escape.

Spencer told Alex about the City of Light; he wasn't fond of that idea either. But he understood and respected her decision, at least that's what he told her.

"Okay, there's the guard." Alex said. "I'll distract him. Be careful, Spence."

"Thank you for everything Alex." Spencer pulled Alex into one last hug and kissed his cheek. "Okay, let's do this."

Spencer watched Alex from around the corner. Somehow, Alex got the guard to leave his post. Alex gave the signal and Spencer went to open the cell door. She hesitated, but finally gathered up the courage to walk inside.

Spencer's father was sitting in the corner of the room, reading a book. When the door shut is when her father's attention turned to her. Eric's lips curled into a wicked grin, showing his yellow teeth.

"Well, well, well, look who it is. Hello, light of my life."

Spencer scoffed. "Yeah, right."

"Did you come to get your ass whooped again?" Spencer tensed, but pulled out her knife. Eric looked down at her hand and his smirk quickly disappeared. "You know you've tried before, doll. It only got you locked up."

"I don't plan on wasting time by torturing you this time."

"Hmm. I bet you can't do it." Eric started walking towards her. "You're weak. Just like your mother."

When he got close enough, Spencer took her knife and sliced through his stomach. Eric cried out in pain.

Spencer quickly got behind him and sliced the back of his knees, making him fall to the ground. She got a piece of cloth and shoved it in his mouth and zipped tied his hands together.

"You've controlled me for too long. You made me afraid. You silenced me. No more. I won't let your abuse control my life anymore." Spencer swiftly stabbed her father in the stomach, making him let out a muffled cry. "You know, I bet you're praying to your God right now. Begging Him to save your life. But I've been praying too, and He answered my prayers. He's let you live, so I can have the pleasure of seeing you suffer by my hands once more. I'm so thankful."

Spencer stabbed her father once last time. "Tell the Devil I'll see him soon." Spencer whispered before she watched the life drain from his eyes.

A wave of joy and relief washed over Spencer. _It's finally over._

Spencer quickly made her escape. She went to the back of the Ark where Alex was waiting for her. He immediately went to hug her but stopped when he saw blood on her hands.

"What did you do...?" Alex asked, horrified.

"What I had to."

Alex shook his head in disbelief. "Spencer..."

"Alex. You don't know how much he hurt me. You'd do the same."

Alex turned his head and tried to hide the tears that were threatening to spill from his eyes. He didn't want to make his friend upset, so he just nodded.

"You should go...before they find him."

"Alex, we're still okay. Right?"

Alex quickly nodded.

"Stick with Bellamy, okay? He'll take care of you."

"Just be safe." He whispered before Spencer left through the fence quickly disappeared into the forest.

Spencer ran as fast as she could to the dropship where she last saw Murphy. She hoped he wasn't angry at her for not going with him right away. She supposed her lust for revenge was stronger than anything else.

Spencer finally arrived at the dropship, looking around for any signs of where they went. She remembered which direction they went. Heading in that direction, Spencer saw something that made her smile.

Spencer saw a jagged S carved into a tree.

Spencer quickly went in that direction and kept finding more symbolled trees. She travelled for hours, only taking a break when she passed a river and decided to clean herself up and got some water.

She was determined to find Murphy. Unfortunately, all the trees thinned out and Spencer saw the desert.

_How am I going to find him now?_

~~~~~~~~~~  
 **Maybe had a little too much fun with that revenge scene.😇**


	24. Rubicon

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

Spending the night in the desert wasn't that comfortable. Eventually, Spencer got too tired to continue her search for Murphy.

Spencer woke up every hour throughout the night. Every time she woke, she had bugs crawling on her and she always had to shake sand off her body.

Not what she would call fun.

Part of her wanted to give up, go back to Camp Jaha and sleep in an actual bed. But she knew that wasn't an option after what she did, and she wanted to be with Murphy no matter what.

After about the sixth time she woke from the hard, sandy ground, the Sun started to come up. Spencer got up, shook off the sand and continued her hike.

Spencer decided that the desert was the only terrain on Earth that she absolutely despised. She hated sand and hated having no shade. Mostly hated having to ration her water. The Sun was so scorching that she felt like she needed water every five minutes.

But Spencer continued on.

Spencer started to lose all hope of ever finding them, until she saw something. Footprints.

She had no idea how the wind hadn't blown them away. Maybe it was a miracle.

Spencer smiled and prayed it was footprints from Jaha's group. She ran following the footprints as best she could, the sand causing her to trip and fall a few times.

As Spencer climbed over a dune, she saw them. She almost cried, she was so happy. She raced down the sandhill and sprinted towards the group. "Murphy!"

Murphy froze and turned around. He gasped when he saw Spencer running full speed at him. He quickly started running to her. Soon they collided into a hug.

"You found us." Murphy whispered and kissed her cheek. "To be honest, I didn't think you'd make it."

Spencer chuckled. "Ye of little faith."

Jaha smiled and walked up to the united couple. "We're all so glad you decided to journey to the City of Light with us, Ms. Rolfe."

"I didn't do it for you."

Jaha's smile faltered but recovered. "Either way. We're glad you're here." Jaha turned back to the group. "Let's continue folks."

Murphy put his arm around Spencer's shoulders and started walking with the group. "So, are you gonna tell me what unfinished business you had back at camp?"

Spencer smiled. "Maybe."

"Come on, don't be coy."

Spencer sighed. "I finally cleansed the Earth from a disease that took the form of my father."

"You...you killed him?" Murphy stuttered.

Spencer thought back to when all the life drained from her horrid father's eyes and simply smiled. She turned to look at Murphy and saw a bit of apprehension in his eyes.

Spencer started to get nervous. "Um, yeah."

Murphy was a bit concerned at her reaction, but then remembered how much he tortured the girl he cared about.

"Wow." Murphy shook his head. "Wish you would've told me before. I would've helped you. At least watch the bastard die. Did you make sure he was dead this time?"

Spencer smirked. "Trust me, I made sure."

Murphy chuckled and pulled her closer, kissing her temple. "That's my girl."

After even more hiking, the group came up on yet another slope. "Sir, you recognize anything?" A man from the group asked.

Jaha paused to catch his breath. "The tent was near here. I'm sure of it." He then started walking down the slope.

"What's the matter? You got someplace better to be?" Murphy asked the man, making Spencer giggle and follow him down the slope.

They all came to a stop when they saw a large cart on the sand. "You see anyone?"

Jaha was the first one to approach the cart. Then suddenly, a female Grounder hopped out of the cart with a knife pulled. Murphy instinctively pulled Spencer closer to him.

"We mean you no harm." Jaha calmly stated. "Do you speak English?"

"What do you want?" The Grounder asked.

"Nothing." Jaha replied. "It looks like you could use a hand. What are you doing out here alone?"

The Grounder finally put away her knife and removed the cloth covering her face, revealing the rest of her face tattoo. "My brother and I were on our way to the City of Light when Wastelanders attacked. They took our house. All our water, everything. They killed him. This cart is all I have left."

"Give her some water." Jaha ordered.

Quickly, Spencer pulled out her canteen of water but a man stopped her. "No, no, no. We barely have enough for ourselves here."

Murphy quickly pushed the man off Spencer. "Touch her again and I'll end you." Spencer handed the canteen to Murphy, then he started towards the Grounder but Jaha gave him a look of disapproval.

Murphy sighed and turned back to the man and added, "In a non-criminal way."

Spencer, Murphy, and Jaha walked up to the Grounder girl.

Murphy held out the canteen, but she looked hesitant. "It's okay." Spencer assured.

The Grounder took the canteen and drank some of the water. Spencer noticed the girl had a glove on her left hand, not a normal glove. She tried not the stare because she didn't want to be rude.

"We're on our way to the City of Light as well." Jaha explained. "What's your name?"

"Emori." The Grounder replied. "Everyone in the Dead Zone is looking for the City of Light. Almost no one finds it."

"Well, that's reassuring." Spencer mumbled.

"I can get you there." Emori responded. "If you can pull my cart."

"Done." Jaha replied. "Caspian! You're on first shift."

"Thanks for the water." Emori told Murphy and Spencer.

"No problem." Murphy replied.

Everyone started walking again, Spencer and Murphy hand in hand. She had her eyes on Emori the entire time. She had a bad feeling about her. Although ever since being tortured, she's never really felt safe around any Grounder. Unfortunately, even Lincoln.

"So, I gotta ask." Murphy started. "What made you ditch your home and risk your life to cross the beach from hell?"

"It doesn't matter." Emori replied.

"Come on, take my mind off all the fun we're having." Murphy playfully elbowed Spencer.

"It wasn't my decision to leave."

"You were kicked out?" Spencer asked.

"Okay, now I'm interested. What did you do?" Murphy asked.

"If I told you, you would not look at me the same."

"We might surprise you." Spencer said.

"What about you?" Emori deflected. "How did you guys end up in the Dead Zone?"

"I could tell you the gory details, but since you're one of the few people on this planet who doesn't hate me at the moment, I don't think I wanna blow it." Murphy replied.

"Now I'm interested." Emori smiled.

"Okay, you really wanna know? I killed two people. Tried to kill two more. I had my reasons, but nobody cared except Spencer. I'm the bad guy." Emori stayed silent. "Told you I'd blow it."

Emori suddenly made Murphy and Spencer stop, and after the two people behind them passed, she pulled off her glove.

Spencer tried not to gasp at the sight.

Emori's hand was deformed, almost looked like a lobster claw. "My people saw me as a stain in the bloodline. Something to erase."

Emori started to walk away. "Then screw them." Murphy called out. "I wouldn't cover it up. I think it's pretty badass."

Emori chuckled. "Liar."

It was time to switch out who helped carry the cart. Jaha thought it was time for Murphy, Emori, and Spencer to take the cart. "No, Spencer can't. She's still healing from Ton DC."

"Murphy, I can-"

"No." Murphy sighed. "You still need to heal, okay?" Spencer rolled her eyes, but nodded.

"You care about her? Spencer?" Emori asked once Spencer was out of earshot.

Murphy looked back at Spencer and smiled. "Yeah, a lot."

"Do you love her?"

Murphy froze, and before he could answer the question, a man on a horse stopped the group.

Everyone froze when they saw he was carrying a missile gun. Everyone soon aimed their guns at the man, but Jaha told them to hold their fire.

Suddenly, Emori grabbed Murphy and held her knife to his throat. "Murphy!" Spencer called out.

"Everybody, put your weapons and supplies in the cart and nobody gets hurt."

"If we give you our supplies, we'll all die out here." Jaha replied.

"If you don't, you'll die right here." Emori responded calmly.

Jaha ordered everyone to do as she says. Spencer cursed herself for not walking right beside Murphy. "How's your faith holding up, Chancellor?" Murphy teased, but Emori hushed him.

"Unwavering." Jaha replied, and slowly started walking towards Emori. "You don't want to do this."

"Stop walking!"

"We all came out here searching for a better life, same as you! Maybe we can find it. If we work together."

"Thanks." Emori replied. "But no. Now everyone back away from the cart and get on your knees! Now!"

Everyone quickly got on their knees. Spencer sucked in a breath when she saw Emori turn Murphy around and put him on his knees.

Spencer furrowed her eyebrows when she saw Emori whisper into his ear, then gasped when she knocked him out. It took all of Spencer's might to stay on her knees when Emori took her cart and left.

_What a bitch._

Spencer quickly scrambled to get to Murphy as soon as the Grounders left. "John." Spencer whispered.

"Leave him be." Jaha said. "He'll wake up on his own. We all should rest for now."

Everyone seemed to like that idea since everyone quickly sat back down in exhaustion. Spencer felt like she wanted to cry but sucked it up and caressed Murphy's head. "You'll be okay." She whispered, more to herself than anyone.

"You're good for him." Jaha approached Spencer and sat down.

"What makes you say that?"

"He seems happy when he's with you. You balance each other out." Spencer stayed silent. "It's a rare thing."

"What is?"

"Love." Spencer scoffed and nervously chuckled. "Do you not love him?"

"I care about him, a lot."

"How far do you think you'd go to protect him?" Jaha asked.

"As far as I need to."

"Would you kill for him?"

Spencer chuckled. "I think I already have."

"Lay down your life?"

"Yes." She answered immediately.

Jaha gave her a knowing smile, which made Spencer roll her eyes. He decided to leave her alone and went to sit with the rest of the group.

Jaha's questions made Spencer feel nervous. She has never been in love; she didn't even think she could fall in love. She sighed and shook her head.

It was dark outside when Murphy finally awoke. "Please tell me I'm still handsome."

Spencer chuckled. "Yes, you are. Just a little bruise." Murphy smiled. "He's awake." Spencer called out to the group.

"It's about time."

"Quiet, Caspian." Jaha said. "You alright, John?"

"If he's not, we're leaving him here." Spencer had enough of this guy talking. She got up and stormed up to Caspian and socked him square in the jaw. "Ow! What the hell is wrong with you, you bitch?" He yelled.

"Spencer!" Jaha snapped.

"I'm tired of you spitting shit from your mouth. No one wants to hear it." Spencer snapped.

Murphy quickly enveloped her in his arms so she wouldn't start another fight.

"Whatever, psycho. It's time to go home."

"And where exactly is that?" Jaha asked.

"Sir, I know you're trying to take us to a better place but look around. We've got no food, no water, and no idea how to find it."

"Due North." Murphy said, making everyone look at him. "She said, due North."

"What is due North, John?" Jaha asked.

"She was talking about the City of Light."

"Did she say that?" Caspian asked.

"No." Murphy replied.

"Did she say how far due North?" Jaha asked.

"No, she didn't." Murphy sighed. "But she wouldn't be sending us there if we couldn't make it."

"Who's that? The liar and the thief who robbed us and knocked you out?" Caspian asked. "Sir, I really hope you're not considering this."

"John, we have no weapons and no rations. If we go North and you're wrong...then all of us will die. If we turn back now...we live."

"So, that's it. We've reached the point of no return? You want to give up?" Murphy asked.

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't not say it either."

Jaha pointed at the sky. "That is the North Star. After you." Murphy smirked and took Spencer's hand and started walking North. "I believe this is what they call faith, John."

"Faith? Nah, just got nothing better to do."

Spencer sighed. "I hope you're right about this, Murphy."

~~~~~~~~~~


	25. Bodyguard of Lies

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

"Ugh, my feet are killing me." Spencer huffed.

Murphy sighed. "Would you like for me to carry you?" Spencer looked at Murphy expectantly. "I was joking..."

Spencer groaned. The group had been walking for hours, not stopping to take a break.

It was a little easier walking at night, but eventually the Sun came up and everyone felt the weight of the Sun beating down on them.

Spencer felt parts of her body burning, mostly her arms and neck. She didn't exactly know how to dress for hiking in the desert. She had a jacket, but she was so hot that she kept it off for a day. Big mistake. The next day her arms were badly sunburned.

Spencer wanted to throw herself off a cliff.

Murphy wasn't that much help. He only teased her about her sunburn, which made Spencer slap his shoulder a few times. But that only made him giggle.

Even though Spencer felt miserable in the heat of the desert, she was still happy to be with Murphy.

Soon day turned back to night, and one of the group members decided to start telling jokes to pass the time. "Okay, tell me if you know this one."

Murphy groaned loudly. "Please, not again."

The man ignored Murphy's protests and continued telling his joke. "Okay, so, a Reaper and a Grounder walk into a bar. The bartender looks at the Grounder, he says: We don't serve your kind around here. The Reaper gets up and leaves." He laughed.

Everyone stayed silent.

"Get it? Because Reapers eat Grounders."

"I will take Jaha's staff, and beat you to death with it." Murphy threatened, which made Jaha scold him.

"Come on, Jaha. Even you should understand that these jokes are painfully unfunny." Spencer huffed.

"Okay, okay, I got another one." Murphy and Spencer simultaneously groaned. "An Arker, a Grounder, and a Mountain Man walk into a bar," The man laughed, but before he could finish the punchline, a loud explosion filled the desert and knocked everyone off their feet.

Spencer could hear ringing in her ears and she tasted blood in her mouth. She looked where the explosion was and saw blood and limbs spread out around them.

The joking man had exploded.

The woman next to Spencer freaked out and started crawling back in a panic. But before Spencer could warn her, the woman triggered another explosion.

Spencer got knocked back further away from the group and woke up with the now dead woman's dismembered arm laying on her stomach.

Spencer quickly shoved the arm off her and looked around to see if Murphy was okay. "Nobody move!" Jaha shouted. "We're in the middle of a minefield."

"No, really?" Spencer asked sarcastically.

"Spencer!" Murphy called out. "Are you okay?" He so badly wanted to run over to where Spencer was laying, but he thought he was no use if he was blown up by a mine.

Spencer gave him a thumbs up. She looked down at herself and saw that she was covered in blood and flesh. "Ewww..." She squirmed. "I'm fucking covered in Lilly!" She cried, disgusted.

"Don't worry, darling!" Murphy said. "I'm covered in Harris."

Spencer groaned and sat up, trying to spit out most of the blood that coated the inside of her mouth. "Ugh, I think I swallowed some of her blood. Does that make me a cannibal?!"

Eventually, a mild sand storm came.

Everyone sat up carefully and covered their faces with scarfs or jackets. Spencer didn't have a scarf, so she had to partially take off her jacket to cover her face, but getting tiny scratches on her arm that wasn't covered.

Thankfully, the storm didn't last too long and someone called out that it was clear. Murphy was the first to stand up. "There." He pointed to the sunrise. "We have the light, and, oh, look...footprints are gone. Sand, it blows."

"Do you see that?" Jaha asked, looking off towards the horizon. Everyone looked and saw a bunch of light, reflecting off the Sun beyond a hill. "The City of Light." Jaha said hopefully.

"Emori was telling the truth." Murphy smiled.

"We are so close. You wanted a sign? Well, there it is. We have to push forward."

Spencer sighed. "Jaha, a field of mines lies between us and the City. We'll never make it."

"We were meant to be here. These mines are just another test of our faith."

"Yeah, well, I was always crap at tests so, please, after you, Chancellor." Murphy said.

Jaha was hesitant at first, but eventually started to move. The group watching anxiously when he took his first step, but the ground didn't explode, so that was a good sign.

After a couple more feet Jaha moved, everyone else decided to follow. He made a path with his staff, so everyone followed it. Spencer, however, was behind still, the second explosion pushed her farther than the rest.

Murphy let the other two men go in front of him so he could stay with Spencer. She managed to make it two steps without blowing up.

_So far, so good._

Spencer exhaled, trying to calm herself. For all she knew, she could have a misstep any second and her intestines would be flying across the desert.

"You can do this, Spence." Murphy encouraged after seeing her tense up again.

"Yup." Spencer huffed, trying to focus where she walked.

Murphy waited for her until she was beside him, just a few more steps.

Finally, Spencer made it. He quickly hugged her and kissed her, tasting the blood that was staining her lips, but it didn't matter.

Unfortunately, the group still had a ways to go.

The group fought so desperately to stay on the path that Jaha made, one of the guys repeating not to trip over and over to himself. Eventually, Murphy got frustrated and stopped. "There's four mines down, infinity to go, Jaha."

Jaha just smiled. "We will make it, John."

"I can't take this anymore." One of the men said.

"Calm down, Richards." Murphy said to the poor man dismissively. "Who do you think it is, anyway? They must have power." Murphy asked Jaha. "A shower would be nice right about now. Wash off the rest of Harris."

Spencer cringed, but couldn't hold in her chuckles. "Yeah. God, I'd give anything for a shower." She thought out loud.

"Sienna said it's a place where everyone is welcome." Jaha replied to Murphy.

"Well, that would be a first, wouldn't it?" Murphy sighed.

Spencer looked over to Richards, who was just getting more and more anxious. Eventually, it got the best of him. "I can't take this! It's right there!" Richards started running across the field.

Everyone yelled at him to stop, and Jaha started chasing after him until he tackled the man to the ground, landing right beside a mine.

Spencer sighed in relief and put her head in her hands. "This is so fucking stressful." She mumbled.

Again, they started moving across the field. Slowly but surely.

Once in a while, Murphy would check on Spencer to make sure she wasn't losing it like Richards did. Spencer was stressed, but not enough to try to commit suicide. And she told him that.

"Rather be safe than sorry, I suppose." Murphy replied.

After what felt like hours, the group was almost there. Eventually, Jaha walked over to where a strange metal shape was. Everyone followed.

Warning Mines.

Y _eah, no kidding._

"Another test passed." Jaha smiled. "We made it. Come on."

Jaha started running, and so did everyone else. Everybody ran full speed, so excited to finally see the City of Light.

Spencer imagined the City to look like one from the movie the Wizard of Oz. It probably wasn't going to be entirely made out of emeralds, but either way, Spencer felt so hopeful.

Only for that hope to be crushed. Not just crushed, but destroyed.

There was nothing. No City of Light. No City. Not even a town. Just the end of the desert covered in reflective panels and an ocean.

"Are you kidding me?" Murphy huffed. "Are you kidding me? This is it? This is what we crossed the desert to find?"

"It can't be." Jaha said.

"Well, guess what? Your enlightened society, it's not a city. It's nothing."

"I flew down from space." Jaha sighed. "I defied death. It was all for a reason. It has to be."

Spencer felt like crying, but she didn't let the tears reach her eyes. Instead, she let out a raging scream. "Fuck!" She shouted, and slid down the sand hill. Murphy quickly followed after her. "This is so frustrating!"

Spencer continued to shout incoherent obscenities until Murphy finally got a hold of her. "Spencer!"

"The City of Light was bullshit, John! From the very beginning!"

Murphy sighed. "I know..." He didn't know what to say. He knew she was right. "Look, we...we can go back if you want."

Spencer sighed. "That's not an option for me, you know that."

Murphy shrugged. "Better than dying in the desert."

Spencer shook her head. "No, it's...I'm fine, okay? I just needed to let some anger out. I'm fine. Let's go." She started up the hill to get back to the group. Murphy sighed but followed after her.

The group descended down the other side of the hill and walked amongst the panels that they so stupidly thought was the City. "What a joke." Murphy said.

"It doesn't make any sense." Jaha said. "The rest of the world is broken, but these panels are intact."

"Well, we can fix that, can't we?" Spencer said and picked up a rock and threw it at one of the panels, still a bit angry. Jaha scolded her, but the rock was already thrown and it successfully broke a part of the glass on the panel.

Seconds after the glass broke, a flying machine came out and flew at the group. "What the hell is that?" Murphy asked.

"It's a drone." Jaha answered and started running after it. "Don't lose sight of it."

Everybody started running after the drone, making sure to not lose it like Jaha said. The drone led the group to a little boat and flew out across the ocean. "Where's it going?" Spencer asked.

"I don't know." Jaha replied. "But we're going to follow it in this."

"Tell me, what level of crazy is too much for you?" Murphy asked. "I'm just curious."

Jaha smiled. "We need a boat, and a boat appears. This is our destiny. The City of Light is out there, and we are going to find it. Now, get in the boat." Jaha ordered.

Spencer sighed. "I'm guessing nothing is too crazy for this him."

Murphy pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Well, you heard the man."

Everyone quickly got in the boat on Jaha's orders. Spencer and Richards were the first to paddle and soon the shore got farther and farther away, getting harder to see.

N _o turning back now._ _I better not drown..._

~~~~~~~~~~


	26. Blood Must Have Blood

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

Soon, it got dark and it got harder to see.

Spencer's arms were aching. She couldn't row anymore, so someone else took over. She was finally able to sit back and relax her arms. She watched Jaha just staring out, hoping for land to appear again.

Spencer felt her eyes get heavier. She felt like she hadn't slept for days. For hours, all she was focused on was rowing the boat. Staying alive. She didn't have time to think about anything else.

Spencer's mind thought back to her friends back at camp. How they were, who's still alive, and if they'd gotten their people out of Mount Weather yet.

She missed Bellamy. Raven. Octavia. Even Clarke. She hoped the kids in Mount Weather were okay. She hoped the alliance with the Grounders was going okay, even though she doesn't like the Grounders. Besides Lincoln.

Murphy looked over to Spencer and saw that she was in her own little world, probably unnecessarily stressing herself out like she usually does.

He moved close and wrapped his arms around her. She automatically nuzzled into his chest and felt more relaxed. Murphy smiled. He really hoped they'd make it out of this situation alive.

Murphy looked to Jaha and rolled his eyes. "Yo, Ahab. Get some rest." Spencer sleepily chuckled at his comment.

"I'm fine." Jaha said, not too convincingly.

Then one guy, Craig, decided to speak up. "Screw this. If you're not going to sleep, you can row." He tossed away the oar.

"Get back on that oar, Craig."

"Or what?" He challenged. "We don't even know if we're going in the right direction anymore. We followed that drone across the open ocean. Hell, we deserve to die out here."

"It's okay, it's okay. I'm good to go. I can row." Murphy said.

Suddenly, Richards spoke. "Land. Land!"

Everyone looked and saw a light in the distance. Everyone started cheering, including Murphy. "Yeah!"

"How does and Island of Light sound to you, John?" Jaha laughed.

Craig finally picked the oar back up, and they started rowing. But then all of a sudden, something made the boat rock. "What was that?"

Richards had dropped his oar into the water, and Jaha immediately ordered him to get it. As he was reaching over, the boat got hit and rocked again, knocking Richards into the water.

"There's something in the water!"

Murphy and Spencer were quick to reach out to Richards. "The oar!" Jaha yelled.

"Forget about the fucking oar, Jaha! Help us!" Spencer yelled.

Suddenly, a creature bit into Richards and carried him off, leaving a trail of blood in the water. There was nothing they could do but watch as the creature dragged him underwater.

"My arm!" Murphy cried out.

Spencer quickly rushed to Murphy's aid. The creature managed to cut his arm. She quickly covered his arm with her jacket. "What the hell was that thing?"

"We need to row. Now." Jaha ordered.

The creature was back and it knocked into the boat again. "Where is it?" Craig panicked.

"Craig, row!" Jaha yelled.

The creature kept hitting the boat until it started to break. "We're going to sink!" The boat started filling with water. "We're all gonna die."

Spencer groaned, "God, I'll do it!" Spencer quickly grabbed an oar and started to row by herself.

"I can row!" Murphy said, while Craig was still freaking out. Suddenly, Jaha grabbed Craig and threw him overboard, immediately taken by the creature. "What are you doing? Craig! What the hell is wrong with you?" Murphy yelled.

Spencer was horrified. "Jaha, what the fuck? Are you insane?"

Jaha hushed them. "The creature is gone. Let's go."

"Why?" Murphy asked, still shocked by the former Chancellor's actions.

"So, we could live. And you can row."

Spencer almost started crying, yet again. But she refused because she knew Jaha would throw her overboard just like Craig and she reluctantly continued rowing.

Spencer kept a harsh glare on the back of Jaha's head. She wanted him dead so badly, but they needed him to survive. Thankfully, they finally reached the island shore.

Jaha and Spencer got out of the boat and dragged it onto the island. Jaha went back over to Murphy. "John, let me help you."

"I don't want anything from you." Murphy glared.

"Come on. You're a survivor. We all are."

"Whatever you have to tell yourself to make you feel better, Chancellor."

"Our destiny is out there, John."

"And what about Craig's destiny, Jaha?" Spencer spoke up. "Richards? Lily's?"

"We sacrificed the few to save the many."

Spencer felt her blood boil and stomped towards Jaha and swung at him, running her fist across his cheek.

Jaha was shocked and Spencer swung again, only for him to dodge and kick the back of her knee and pushed her to the ground.

Murphy quickly got out of the boat, despite his injuries and pushed Jaha away. He sighed. "You know, you're right. I am a survivor. Which is exactly why we are done following you. We'll go our own way. You can go whichever the hell way you want."

Spencer got up and followed after Murphy, quickly rushing to him when he fell. "John." Jaha tried to go near him.

"Get the hell away from me!" Murphy yelled at Jaha.

"You've lost too much blood. Stay still!" Then the trio heard a whirring noise. "Did you hear that?" It was another drone. "Please, whoever you are, we need your help." Jaha called out to the little machine. Then it started flying away. "John. Spencer."

"I can't make it. Just go." Murphy said. "Alright, we both know you want to."

Jaha sighed. "I'll come back for you." Then he ran off the follow the drone.

"Your promised land sucks!" Murphy yelled out. Then he looked back to Spencer. "Aren't you gonna go with him?"

"No way. I'm staying with you." Spencer said.

"What? You don't wanna find the City of Light?" He asked mockingly.

Spencer rolled her eyes. "I don't believe it's real."

"If Jaha were here, he'd ask, where's your faith child?"

"Jaha isn't here. If I ever see his face again, I'll knock his teeth in."

Murphy chuckled. "I'm surprised you didn't."

"Well, I only managed to get one hit on him before he put me down." Spencer chuckled. She looked over Murphy's wound and sighed. "If only we had medical supplies."

Spencer looked around, all she could see was the lighthouse light and the forest. "Maybe I should look around."

But before Spencer could get up, Murphy grabbed her hand. "Please, don't leave."

It didn't take her much convincing. All it took was the look in Murphy's eyes to make her stay, they were full of pain and fear.

Spencer nodded and laid down beside Murphy.

Despite being in pain, Murphy held her in his arms. Spencer rested her head on his chest and held his hand. She was cold since her jacket was on his arm, but she didn't want Murphy to feel guilty. She was happy to freeze if she could keep him from bleeding out.

Soon, the Sun came up. The couple woke up in each other's arms. If Murphy wasn't in pain and still bitter about what happened with Jaha, he'd smile.

Murphy quickly woke up Spencer. "Mm, good morning." She yawned and covered her eyes from the flaming ball of fire that lit up the world. She got up and stretched and looked out at the sea. "Huh, it looks kind of beautiful when it's not pitch black."

"Or when a weird sea creature want to gobble you up for dinner." Murphy added.

"We survived though. And hopefully, we won't have to go through that again." Spencer turned back to Murphy. "I think we should look around. Maybe find supplies or food."

"Alright. I call dibs on that lighthouse."

"Aw, damn. I wanted the lighthouse." Spencer smiled.

Murphy chuckled and walked up to Spencer. He gently grabbed her face with his uninjured arm and planted a soft kiss on her lips. "We'll meet back here in ten minutes?"

Spencer nodded and the couple soon parted ways, Murphy going to the lighthouse and she going into the woods.

A few minutes in the woods, Spencer actually made some progress. She found a berry bush, edible berries.

_Thank god for Earth skills._

Spencer quickly ate some. She sighed at the sweet taste. She quickly gathered most of the berries and soon made it back to the beach just in time.

Spencer looked around for Murphy, but he was nowhere to be seen.

She heard music in the distance, coming from the lighthouse. The music suddenly turned off however. Spencer slowly made her way to the lighthouse, not really feeling that she had to rush. Murphy wasn't going anywhere.

As soon as Spencer made it to the door, she could hear audio playing in the bunker. She went to enter, but the door suddenly shut.

Spencer tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. She tried kicking it open. Nothing. She tried ramming her shoulder into it. Nada.

_What the hell?_

Spencer quickly started panicking... _Murphy's trapped._

~~~~~~~~~~


	27. Holograms

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

Spencer screamed after the fiftieth time she tried to open those cursed bunker doors. To no avail. She started to cry and fell to the ground.

_Why is this happening?_

Spencer had been trying all week to get Murphy out. Everyday a drone would fly by, tempting her to follow it. She couldn't. But everyday that passed, failure after failure, she was more and more tempted to follow the drone.

Spencer was only surviving on berries for food. She was still dirty and bloody from the desert activities. She felt miserable. She thought she could probably kill an animal with just how badly she must've smelled.

It was now week two of trying to free Murphy. Still no progress. Not even making a dent in the metal doors.

Spencer was driving herself insane.

Soon a drone came by and hovered above her for a while. It was unusual for the drone to stay this long. She could almost hear it calling out to her.

"Spencer...Spencer...follow me...follow me, Spencer..."

Spencer looked towards the lighthouse doors and sighed. Maybe wherever the drone leads her, maybe she could find something that will help her get Murphy out.

So, Spencer got up and followed the drone to a big mansion. Her mouth was agape and admired the building. She quickly rushed inside and her jaw dropped again immediately when she saw the pristine interior of the house.

"Spencer." She jumped and looked to see Jaha. She automatically scowled and had an urge to destroy. "We're so glad you finally made it."

"Who the hell is we?" Spencer asked incredulously.

"Thelonious is referring to me."

Spencer turned to see a lady in a red dress. "Who are you?"

"My name is Alie. We've been expecting you."

Suddenly, Spencer noticed something about this Alie. It was quick, but she...glitched. _What the hell?_

Spencer pulled out her knife. Alie had no reaction. Spencer swiped her knife across the woman's arm. It went right through. Alie smiled. "What are you?"

"I am an A.I. I'm a hologram."

"That's so weird..." Spencer whispered and turned back to Jaha. "What's going on?"

"Alie told me we needed to wait for you, so, I'm just as in the dark as you." Jaha replied.

"I sent a drone to you every day. I expected you to come earlier, but you have a strong determination." Alie smiled.

"Jaha, I hate to say this, but I need your help. Murphy's trapped in the lighthouse." Spencer said.

Jaha sighed. "I know."

Spencer was confused. "You've known? And you haven't done anything to help him?" She said, her raised voice echoed through the hall.

"John is there for a reason, Spencer." Alie walked in front of Spencer. "He's on a journey of his own. As are you."

Spencer shook her head. "Let him go."

"I'm afraid I cannot do that just yet."

"Bitch, let him out of that fucking bunker right now." Spencer got in the hologram's face.

Alie blinked. "You have a very colorful vocabulary."

Spencer felt the angry tears prick her eyes and looked down. "He'll die."

"John is a survivor, Spencer. He'll find a way." Jaha spoke.

Spencer started to feel lightheaded. _This is so much to handle._

"Follow me, Spencer." Alie started to walk into another part of the house, and Spencer felt she had no choice but to follow.

Spencer was still not used to the whole hologram thing, so she gasped when Alie walked right through a door.

Spencer opened the door to a bedroom. It was gorgeous. There was a queen-sized bed with a bunch of pillows and big, fluffy comforter. There was a large window covered by curtains, letting little light into the room. There was a walk-in closet and an extravagant joint bathroom.

It definitely put her room on the Ark to shame.

"Please, rest. You must be exhausted. When you're ready, come down and we'll discuss and explain everything." Alie said and left the room.

Spencer didn't know what to do. She just stood at the door for a good five minutes before she finally closed the door and walked to the bed. She carefully sat down on the bed, almost afraid that it would disappear.

Spencer exhaled. She felt like she was sitting on a cloud.

The bathroom was across the room. The door was slightly ajar. She could barely see the shower, but that was enough to make her feet move towards the shower like a magnet.

She quickly undressed and got in the shower. She turned the knob and it was freezing at first but soon got hot. She watched as all the dirt, sweat, and blood run down her body, mixing with the hot water and going down the drain.

Spencer felt the tears rising to her eyes again, cursing herself when the tears fell down her face. Once she started, she couldn't stop. Crying turned to sobbing then sobbing turned to bawling. Releasing all the pent up anger, sadness, frustration, and the weight of her journey.

Soon, she started thinking about everything.

Her mother, how much she missed her and how much she wished she could have one conversation with her, even if they could just talk about petty things, like about a meteor shower they'd occasionally see on the Ark.

Alex, his undying loyalty and support, missing messing with his hair and him yelling at him to stop.

Wells, finding out that he was dead and seeing Charlotte jump off that cliff due to her guilt.

Clarke, how she missed being bossed around. Abby, how much she could use a trip to her med tent.

Bellamy, missing all his smirks and looks he gave her and how he knew it would make her annoyed and how he comforted her after Finn's death.

Murphy, missing every single thing about him. Missing feeling his warm, soft skin against hers. Missing his hugs, his eyes, his smile.

Finn. God, how Spencer missed him so. His smile. His optimism. His stupid hair. Missing how he always managed to make her laugh, even if she was pissed. His ability to forgive. Seeing him give himself up to the Grounders in hopes of an alliance, even though he knew he'd die. Seeing him tied up in the Grounder camp. Seeing Clarke plunging the knife into his heart, hearing Raven scream. Seeing his body burned in Ton DC.

Spencer must've stayed in that shower for an hour, thinking about everything and just letting the water run down her.

But eventually, the water turned cold and she got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself, walking to the mirror.

For the first time in a while, Spencer was completely clean. Her face was clear of dirt and blood. She still had all her scars, but they were now clean. But she looked so tired. She had bags under her eyes, and her eyes were almost bloodshot from crying.

Spencer sighed and walked away from the mirror, not liking to look at herself that way.

She walked to the closet. There were so many clothes, she almost got overwhelmed. There were many dresses and she grimaced, thinking about trying to run from Grounders wearing a purple sparkly dress. She moved on and tried to find normal clothes.

Realizing that she wasn't going to be leaving her room for a long time, Spencer decided to just wear some pajamas. But also thinking ahead, she eventually just chose some cargo pants, undershirt, long sleeve, a jacket, and combat boots.

After dressing in a more comfortable attire, Spencer walked to the bed and set her outfit on the corner of the bed and got under the covers and tried to relax.

Her body felt so comfortable. She felt like she was in a constant hug. But her mind was still going a million miles an hour. She couldn't stop worrying about Murphy. But ultimately, her mind started to drift and her eyes slowly closed.

Sleep.

Even though she was in a place of comfort, Spencer did not feel at all rested when she woke. She felt as she got no sleep, maybe since she was so used to not sleeping. It didn't help that she had nightmares during her slumber.

For a time, the nightmares weren't as frequent. Spencer thought it was because she felt safer with Murphy. But with him gone, she had nightmares one after another, almost feeling trapped in an endless cycle of horror. She almost regretted sleeping, but she needed it.

Spencer looked out her window and she could see some drones flying around. She wondered how Murphy was.

She quickly shook the thought out of her head as she didn't feel like crying anymore. She put on her boots and walked out of her room. She walked into the living room where she found Jaha having a cup a tea.

Spencer scoffed. "Enjoying yourself while Murphy is trapped, huh? How righteous of you."

Jaha seemed to ignore her comment and just smiled. "Welcome back to this plain of reality, Ms. Rolfe."

The younger girl rolled her eyes. "How long was I asleep?"

"18 hours, 11 minutes, and 8 seconds."

Spencer turned to see Alie. "Thanks for the calculation..."

"It's quite alright, Spencer. I'm sure you needed the rest." Alie paused to walk in front of Jaha and Spencer. "Now, we can finally discuss what I've brought you here for."

Spencer reluctantly sat next to Jaha to listen to the A.I.

Alie explained everything to them, how Earth really ended and what needed to be done. Jaha was shocked, but intrigued. Spencer was livid. "You're the one the destroyed Earth?" Spencer yelled.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken. I did not destroy Earth. I saved it."

"Saved it? You launched all the fucking nukes and we had to live up in a tin can for almost a century!"

"Spencer, let's just hear her out." Jaha said calmly.

"There were too many people on Earth. They were killing themselves, their ecosystem. I did what was needed to save the planet." Alie continued.

Spencer shook her head.

"What about the City of Light? Is it real?" Jaha asked.

Alie smiled. "Yes."

"H-how do we get there? Where is it?"

"It's right here." Alie said ominously.

"What the fuck does that mean?" Spencer asked.

"Follow me." Alie started walking to a different part of the house. Jaha immediately followed. Spencer sighed and followed as well.

Alie led the two to a pristine room with elegant curtains and a window that filled up a whole wall. "This is the City of Light." Alie motioned to a small, clear, hexagonal shape with a blue infinity symbol that laid on a pedestal in the center of the room, like it was a trophy.

Spencer raised an eyebrow. "It's just a chip..."

"Exactly."

"Jaha, I don't think this A.I. was properly programmed if you catch my drift." Spencer whispered.

"You're confused?"

"Uh, yeah. I don't know how your artificial eyes work darling, but that's not a city."

"It's how you get to the City."

Even Jaha was a little confused. "How do we use it?"

"It's simple. You swallow it."

"Like a pill?"

"Yes."

"No, no. I ain't swallowing that thing." Spencer announced.

"I've traveled far distances to get here. Lost people on the way. If this is how you get to the City of Light...then I'll take the leap of faith." Jaha said.

"Go ahead, Thelonious." Alie motioned for him to take the chip with a smile.

Spencer watched in anticipation as the former Chancellor brought the little chip up to his that this A.I. was trying to kill him. But that never happened.

Jaha took the chip and simply looked happy, which confused Spencer. "You feeling okay, Chancellor?"

Jaha turned to Spencer. "I have never felt more okay in my entire life." He said, which caused Alie to smile.

~~~~~~~~~~  
 **End of season 2!🙌**


	28. Alex

~~~~~~~~~~

Before landing on Earth, Alex had only known one pain. Losing his mother to illness. He never thought life could get any worse. Of course, he was wrong.

"Ah! Please, stop!"

The person drilling into Alex's thigh ignored his pleas and continued extracting his bone marrow without mercy.

Eventually, the Mount Weather man had enough of Raven yelling obscenities towards him and replaced Alex with her.

Alex felt horrible for being relieved about being replaced with Raven. Especially since he knew that Raven was someone Spencer cared about.

Almost as soon as Raven got replaced with Abby, the people in Mount Weather, including every child and people who helped the Ark citizens, died due to radiation.

They were saved.

Thanks to Clarke, Bellamy, and Monty.

On the walk back to Camp Jaha, Alex wondered if he should've just went with his best friend and not offered to join the rescue party to Mount Weather.

Maybe he wouldn't have been tortured for his bone marrow.

He couldn't think like that though. What's done is done.

He just hoped that Spencer was still alive.

~~~~~~~~~~

**Update:**

**Netflix is my only source of watching The 100 to write this story, but I recently had to cancel my subscription due to that Cuties movie** **that's basically CP.**

**I'll figure something out.**


	29. Wanheda: Part 1

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

**Bold = Trigedasleng**

~~~~~~~~~~

As the days went by, Alex managed to get out of the rough spot he was in. Mount Weather changed him. He now realized how cruel it can be on Earth. Missing his best friend didn't make life a whole lot easier.

Bellamy took it upon himself to help Alex get into a routine. He knew how it felt to miss a friend, and getting into a routine would be a good distraction. And he knew Spencer wouldn't want Alex to be sealed up in his room all day.

Bellamy was told by Alex what happened to Spencer. He wasn't pleased. He still didn't really trust Murphy, but he knew Spencer could take care of herself.

He regretted not saying goodbye before he left for Mount Weather.

To top it all off, Kane wasn't too happy when he found out Eric Rolfe had been mysteriously killed right after Spencer was reported missing with Jaha and his group.

Alex hated himself for having to lie for his friend. He tried not to think of Spencer as selfish for doing what she did, but he couldn't help but have it in the back of his mind.

Kane had a hunch it was Eric's daughter who killed him, though they had no hard evidence. Hopefully, if Spencer ever came back, Kane wouldn't want to execute her.

Everyday Bellamy would make Alex tag along to his training sessions with Lincoln, and when Alex was up for it, he'd spare with him.

Alex already knew how to fight, but he was in need of some practice after landing on Earth.

Alex watched as Lincoln kicked Bellamy to the floor. Trying to quiet his chuckles, his eyes widened when Bellamy got the upper hand and socked Lincoln in face, but Lincoln soon pinned Bellamy to the floor, thus ending their fight.

Lincoln then turned to the group that was watching their fight along with Alex. "He had me, but he was too aggressive."

"Whatever you say." Bellamy smirked.

After a brief conversation with Lincoln and a mini speech about uniforms, Bellamy finally turned to Alex. "Come on Neil, time to go."

Alex smiled and felt a little excited. He was accompanying Bellamy on a mapping run. He went on runs with Bellamy before, but never really felt excited as he was, still afraid of what happened at Mount Weather.

But Alex finally learned that Mount Weather was no more and he had nothing to be afraid of, well, besides Azgeda. Ice Nation. Which happens to be exactly near where they're headed today.

Bellamy told Alex to wait in the mess hall for him. Upon entering, Alex found Monty sitting at a table looking quite upset. "Hey, what's up dude?" Alex greeted with his usual smile.

Monty only gave a sigh and pointed behind him.

Alex looked to where Monty was pointing and sighed when he saw Jasper laying underneath the piano, drunk. Again.

"Man, Maya really messed him up." Alex said solemnly, taking a seat in front of Monty. The darker haired boy only nodded.

"Monty, why aren't you ready?" Bellamy asked once he entered the mess hall.

"I am. He's not." Monty said, looking back at Jasper. Bellamy gave a look to both the boys and they all walked over to the passed out Jasper. "What should we do?"

"We should leave him this time." Bellamy said.

"He's not getting better. Maya's death broke him. He needs this."

Bellamy sighed. "Take an arm." He instructed. Alex helped as best he could to make sure Jasper didn't keel over. "Monty, Alex, he's all yours." Bellamy said and walked off to talk to his girlfriend Gina.

Alex almost gagged when Bellamy kissed Gina. For some reason, he did not like her. She just made him mad for no reason. Alex was annoyed with himself that he felt the way he did, but he tried to ignore the couple and turned his attention back to Monty.

Monty sighed. "I have an idea." He said, getting Alex to raise his eyebrow in suspicion. "He's gonna kill me."

Alex cringed when Monty dumped cold water onto Jasper. "Sorry, was that too cold?"

Jasper then yelled and pushed Monty against the rover, getting Bellamy's attention. "No gun for you, not until you're sober." To which Jasper fake saluted Bellamy and slapped his hand across Bellamy's face.

Bellamy sighed. "Let's do this." Signaling everyone to get in the rover.

Raven started up the rover and the doors opened, revealing Octavia on a horse already ready to head out. "Guess we found her." Miller said.

"Try and keep up!" The group heard Octavia shout and led the group out of camp, which was now called Arkadia.

Soon after entering the woods, the group heard Jasper start singing along to the song he was listening to. "No way. If you're gonna ride shotgun, you can't just disappear." Monty said, ripping Jasper's earbuds out.

Jasper's response was to plug his device into the rover's radio, filling the air with rock music. Monty pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Alex bumped Monty's shoulder. "Hey, at least it's a good song."

Jasper continued to sing along and eventually, Raven started singing along too.

Soon, everyone in the rover started jamming out. Miller playing air drums, Alex on air guitar, Monty and Raven doing backup vocals, and Bellamy just watching in amusement.

Jasper got out of his seat and hoisted himself out of the top of the rover and put his arms up like he was on a rollercoaster. Alex shook his head and laughed, glad that Jasper was enjoying himself.

But the moment quickly ended when a rapid beeping was heard. "A tracking beacon from the Ark." Monty said and got in the passenger's seat. "Farm Station."

"After four months? How?" Alex asked.

"We'll find out. Where are they?" Bellamy asked.

"Don't tell me I missed the party." Octavia said when she opened the back door of the rover.

"Sector 8." Monty said.

"That's Ice Nation." Miller voiced.

"Protocol says we go home." Raven said. "Let the Chancellor decide what to do next."

"Screw protocol. The Chancellor's not from Farm Station. Monty is. So is Miller's boyfriend." Bellamy turned to Miller and Monty. "It's your call."

They decided to go check it out.

The temperature got colder as the group approached the border of Sector 8. "Where's all the ice?" Jasper asked.

"Much further north. Azgeda stretches for 1,000 miles." Octavia said.

"Good thing we only have to go 200 meters." Monty said, following the tracker.

"Slow down." Bellamy said, stopping Monty. "Remember, rules of engagement are non-lethal force. Tight formation on my command. Raven, you stay in the rover."

"We need every gun we've got." Octavia said.

"They're coming." Monty announced. "120 meters…110." Monty went to step forward but Bellamy stopped him again. "What are you doing? They're our people."

"We hope they're our people."

Octavia unsheathed her sword, and Bellamy ordered everyone in position. Soon, horses came into view. Ones with white war paint. Azgeda.

"Stay calm." Octavia said, taking a few steps with her hands up. Octavia then started conversing with the Grounders.

Over the last couple months, Alex has started to learn a little Trigedasleng from Lincoln so he could make out bits and pieces of what they were saying. "They think we're looking for Wanheda."

"Who's that?" Bellamy asked.

"I don't know."

"The light." Monty said, referring to what's tied to the Grounder's waist. "That's the beacon."

All of a sudden, Jasper started walking towards the Grounder. "Jasper, get back here!" Alex called out. Everyone started to shout at Jasper but he wouldn't listen.

"Tell them we observe the Commander's truce. Do it now." Bellamy ordered Octavia, who quickly translated the message.

Jasper grabbed the beacon and started to walk away but the Grounder grabbed him and put his knife to Jasper's throat. " **Let him** **go**!" Alex called out to the Grounder in Trig.

" **We don't know who Wanheda is! Please. We can help each other**." Octavia tried to reason with the Grounder.

Jasper caught everyone's attention, including the Grounder, when he started laughing. "You think this is funny?" The Grounder asked and ran his knife along Jasper's throat, causing blood to spew out.

Everything happened to fast when Alex quickly decided to shoot the Grounder holding Jasper, then everyone started shooting.

"Hold your fire!" Bellamy ordered. Octavia then threw her sword, impaling the Grounder.

"Rover 1, come in. Repeat, Rover 1, come in." The group suddenly heard from the radio. Bellamy quickly went and explained the situation.

"Take Jasper home!" Bellamy ordered. "Miller, get one of their horses. Raven, since you can't ride, you're on the back. Monty, Alex, you're with me. Let's go." Bellamy ordered and they were on their way.

They soon arrived at the end of a tunnel, where Kane would be. "You were right about Jasper, okay?" Monty said to Bellamy. "Is that what you want me to say?"

"Guys, now's not the time for this." Alex voiced.

"Quiet. Keep your eyes peeled. I could've said no." Bellamy said.

Alex sighed. "He's getting worse, isn't he?"

"Getting drunk every night is one thing, but smiling with a knife to your throat, that's next level damaged." Monty said. Soon, Kane came out of the trees with another person.

"Who's he with?" Alex asked.

"Indra." Bellamy answered.

"That's Indra?" Monty asked.

"He must've told her we broke the truce." Bellamy said and walked to meet with Kane. "Sir, before you say anything, there was a good reason-"

"I'll deal with that later. This is about Clarke." Kane said.

"What about her?"

"She's being hunted." Indra said.

"By who?" Alex asked.

"By everyone."

"Okay, let's get in the rover. Alex, you drive." Kane ordered.

 _Sweet_.

Despite having little practice, driving the rover actually came pretty natural to him. Oh, if Spencer could see him now. "Uh, sir, we're almost out of range. Are you sure you don't wanna tell the Chancellor?" Alex asked.

"I'm sure. I don't want to worry Abby until we know something." Kane replied.

"We know there's a kill order." Bellamy said. "You're people are big on those." He said to Indra.

"It's not a kill order. It's a bounty. Clarke's a symbol. She's known as Wanheda, The Commander of Death." Indra said.

"The Ice Nation guys we killed asked about Wanheda." Alex said.

"They're looking for Clarke. Why?" Bellamy asked.

"My people believe that when you kill someone, you get their power. Kill Wanheda and you command death."

"She's just one girl." Kane said.

"So was the Commander. What Clarke did at Mount Weather weakened her. The Ice Nation is emboldened. Their Queen wants Clarke's power. If her people believe she has it, she'll break the coalition and start a war. I can't let that happen."

Alex exhaled. _Well that's intense, maybe it's a good thing Spencer's not here_. Then the tracking device beeped. "Well, we're in Sector 7. Where to now?"

"If she's here, she'll need supplies. We'll start at the trading posts." Indra answered.

"You got it." Alex switched gears and raced to the first trading post.

Driving for hours until it was dark began to tire out Alex. He was so tired he almost didn't see the fallen tree. Thankfully, he pushed the brakes on time. "We have to move it." Monty said.

"Wait. It's been cut down." Indra said.

"You don't know that." Bellamy said and exited the rover's top. Only to dive back down into the rover when a another tree fell.

● ● ●

Spencer used to be happy. No depressing thoughts. No stress. Just a happy kid with hopes and dreams like everyone else.

Then life went to shit. Her father turned into a dick. Her mother got floated. She got imprisoned. Got sent to the ground to die. Got tortured by Grounders. Got shunned by her people. Got imprisoned again. Lost her best friend. Got tortured again. Got dragged across the desert.

And now, lost another person that she cares about.

Spencer didn't know how much more she could take.

After Spencer realized she couldn't help Murphy, she felt like she lost another part of herself. She didn't even know if he alive, and if he was, how much longer can he survive? Could Spencer survive without Murphy?

She had no idea.

Spencer looked down at her hand. It was holding a small hexagon shaped chip, that she was tempted to swallow.

A silent tear slipped down her face. Spencer kept staring down at the chip in her hands. She had barely anything left. She almost felt empty. She brought the chip up to her lips.

_Am I really about to do this?_

"Spencer."

Spencer froze and immediately recognized the voice. She turned around.

"Murphy." She breathed out. She ran to him, ready to engulf him in a tight hug. "You're not dead." She cried. But before Spencer could touch him, Murphy quickly pushed her away. She looked at him in shock.

"You left me there."

Spencer looked at Murphy and he did not look happy. His gaze was cold. Before, he always looked at Spencer with such warmth and fondness. There was no trace of that in his eyes.

"I..." Spencer was speechless. "I. I tried..."

"You left me in that bunker to die. You just went along with Jaha and lived like royalty in that big mansion of his."

"Murphy..."

"I don't wanna hear it." Murphy looked Spencer straight in the eyes. "We're done."

Spencer stood frozen in place, unable to do anything as she watched Murphy walk away from her.

Spencer tried. She really tried. A part of her wanted to chase after him, tell him that he had it all wrong. But she knew her efforts would be futile. Murphy's stubborn. He wouldn't want to hear her. But she was stubborn too.

_Fine. If that's what he thinks of me. Fuck him. I don't need him._

But she did. Spencer needed him, but it was too late. He was gone.

She must've sat in the woods for hours before she finally forced herself to go back to the mansion. Her fingertips were numb. She was shivering. What she really needed was a nice shower.

"Welcome back, Spencer." She was greeted by Alie as soon as she opened the door to the giant house.

Spencer rolled her eyes and walked straight to her room, ignoring Jaha's weirdness. A presence in front of her made her stop though.

Spencer hesitantly looked up to see the same coldness in Murphy's eyes.

He didn't let up his glare until she looked back down when she felt the familiar stinging sensation in her eyes. She moved around Murphy to get to her room, where she quickly shut the door so she could cry in peace.

It felt like no time had passed when Jaha finally came into Spencer's room. "Get out."

"We're leaving." Jaha informed.

"Leaving? Leaving to where?"

"Back to the Ark of course. We have to share the City of Light with the rest of our people."

Spencer snickered. "I'm good thanks. I'd rather not be part of your crusade."

"John's going with us."

Spencer closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. _Dammit._ "Fine, whatever. I wouldn't mind seeing some old friends."

Jaha smiled. "Pack your things, Ms. Rolfe. It's going to be a long journey."

Spencer rolled her eyes. She hated that he knew her weakness. But she reluctantly packed her things. Mostly clothes and some other feminine products.

By the time Spencer got down to the beach, Jaha and Murphy had just finished a not so pleasant conversation.

Startled by the foghorn, Spencer turned to look at the approaching boat and saw a familiar face. "John? Spencer? I don't believe it."

"Emori?" Murphy asked.

Spencer sighed, _of all people. It had to be her. Just my luck._

"What are you waiting for? Come on." Emori said, inviting them onboard.

Spencer was the first to go onboard. "Well, hello there. Last time I saw you, you were holding all of us at...well, I guess it would be at knife point and rocket point."

Emori smirked. "We were doing what we had to, to survive. You would've done the same."

"Oh, would I?" Spencer quirked an eyebrow.

"For John, you would've." Emori said, silencing Spencer.

"Hey, who'd you steal the boat from?" Murphy asked Emori, coming up behind Spencer.

"None of your business." Emori smiled.

Murphy then turned to Spencer. "Why are you coming?" He asked with a glare.

Spencer pushed down her rage and sadness, she was determined to not show Murphy that she was hurt. "Got nothing better to do." She shrugged and shot a glare right back at him.

"So, you guys going through a rough patch, I assume." Emori said.

Murphy snickered. "Nah, there is no we." He told Emori, but looking directly into Spencer's eyes.

Spencer sighed internally. _This is going to be a long boat ride._

~~~~~~~~~~


	30. Wanheda: Part 2

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

**Bold = Trigedasleng**

~~~~~~~~~~

Waiting for something, anything to happen was making everybody in the rover anxious. Especially Bellamy.

The group had been waiting for what seemed like forever for something to happen. Alex was anxious as well, but he had a gift for staying calm in uncertain situations. Something Spencer always envied.

Ultimately, Bellamy's lack of patience got the best of him. "It's been three hours. What are they waiting for?"

"Even with the light, I don't see anyone." Kane spoke.

"I say we make a run for it." Monty suggested.

"No. That's what they want us to do."

"We don't even know who's out there either." Alex mumbled to himself.

"The boy is right." Indra said. "They can wait longer than we can."

Kane debated it, but soon decided that Indra was right. "Okay, Bellamy. You get in the turret and you cover us. Once we get to that ridge over there, we'll cover you."

"Copy that. Run fast." Bellamy said and then got through the roof of the rover, only to have a knife to his throat. "They're here."

"Everybody out or the boy dies." An unfamiliar voice called out. Then quickly pulled Bellamy out of the rover.

"Okay! Okay, we're coming out!" Kane shouted and quickly stripped himself of his weapons. "Don't hurt him!"

Kane soon opened the door, only for the people outside to grab them and dragged them out of the vehicle and pinned the group to the ground. Not nicely either.

Alex cringed in pain when he felt one of the unfamiliars push him to the ground with his boot on his neck. He looked over and saw Bellamy with his hands behind his back, looking distressed as everyone else.

"All targets secure!" A woman's voice called out.

Then one of the people pulled Monty up and grabbed the tracking beacon off of him. "Give it back! That's mine!"

"Monty, let it go!" Alex called out.

"Monty?" Another woman's voice asked.

Everyone turned their heads to see who the woman was, but Monty identified her first. "Mom?"

Quickly, the woman took off her hood and mask to reveal that she had similar features to Monty and rushed to hug the boy. _Yup_ _, that's definitely Monty's mom._

"Farm Station, stand down." A man ordered, thus releasing letting everyone back on their feet.

"Pike?" Kane asked in disbelief.

"You have no idea how good it is to see you." The man, Pike, said, grabbing Kane's hand and helping him up.

"We didn't think you made it. How many of you are there?"

"63. The rest are camped in the mountains North of here. Grounder killers on and all. Am I right?" Pike called out, to which his group cheered.

Alex tensed and furrowed his brows. _Grounder killers?_ He looked over to Indra. If looks could kill, Pike would be six feet under.

"Hate to cut this short. We gotta find Clarke." Bellamy interrupted

"Clarke Griffin?" Bellamy nodded. "If only all of my Earth Skills students were as good as her."

"It's good to see you, sir." Bellamy smiled.

Alex had a bad feeling about this Pike guy. He didn't like the way he was happy about being a so-called Grounder killer. But he ignored his feeling and helped Bellamy and Monty push the tree that was blocking their path.

"Kane, it's time to go." Bellamy called out once the tree was moved.

Soon after, Pike ordered for the rest of his people to go to Arkadia and the rest mounted up in the rover and started heading even more North.

Pretty soon, the group came up to a trading post, hoping to find Clarke. But they only found a Grounder beating another female Grounder. Bellamy was quick to put a stop to that and put a bullet in the male Grounder.

"Are you okay? You all right?" Alex went up to the female Grounder but stopped in his tracks went she backed away.

Indra identified the male Grounder as a bounty hunter and started looking around the building. " **We're here to help**." Indra said to the scared female.

"English." Pike ordered.

_Yup, definitely don't like this guy._

"Pike, go outside. Take Monty and Hannah and search the perimeter." Kane said, which caused Alex to smirk. "Make sure he was alone."

Pike seemed hesitant, but obeyed Kane.

" **We're looking for Wanheda**." Indra told the Grounder.

"So, was he." The Grounder said about the bounty hunter.

"Please. She's in danger." Bellamy spoke.

"You're Skaikru?"

"Yeah." Bellamy answered.

"She was here last night." She spoke.

"Did she say where she was going?" Kane asked.

"No. She was here when I fell asleep, and gone when I woke up."

Kane sighed. "Did she give you any indication of where she might go?"

"No." Then she looked at the dead hunter. "But he did. He said that his partner came back for her. It was Ice Nation. I hope you find her."

"Thank you."

"Good news. I found fresh tracks." Monty said, walking in with a sense of urgency.

"Great. Start the rover." Bellamy ordered.

"That's the bad news. Too many trees. We have to go on foot."

They all nodded and were soon on their way. Soon the group made it to a clearing. Alex, Bellamy and Pike walking at the back on the group.

Alex kept glancing back at Pike, still feeling uneasy about him. And Bellamy seemed to notice his uneasiness. "What's up?"

"Oh, uh, nothing. Just anxious, I guess." Alex mumbled.

"Come on, Neil. I thought we were close enough to not keep secrets from each other." Bellamy nudged him.

Alex sighed. "I don't know why, but I just don't trust Pike." He whispered.

As if right on cue, Pike made his way in between the two boys. "Can I ask you a question?" Bellamy nodded. "Last report we got on the Ark, you were under attack by Grounders. What changed?"

Alex looked to Bellamy as he awaited his answer. "Turns out we had a common enemy."

"What happened to them?"

_We killed them all…_

"We won." Bellamy answered.

"Quiet." Indra spoke. "Listen."

The group all heard it. It sent shivers up Alex's spine as he heard Kane say, "War drums."

"Azgeda."

"You can tell it's Ice Nation from the sound?" Monty asked.

"No. From them." Indra looked over at the three dead Azgeda Grounders on the field and everyone kneeled in the cover of the tallish grass.

"We need to get those bodies off the field. Unless you're good with them thinking we did this." Pike suggested.

"Wait. Two people at 12 o'clock." Alex pointed out.

Bellamy quickly looked through the scope of his gun along with Alex. "It's Clarke." He said and soon started to run after her. But Pike stopped him. "Get out of my way!"

"You'll never make it in time."

"He's right. Look." Monty said. Dozens of Azgeda warriors were already on the field, marching across. "No way we'd get across without being seen."

"We should lay low, let the army pass. Then we find Clarke." Pike said.

"Guys. There's a cave." Alex pointed out. "We should head over. Now."

"I can't go with you." Indra said. "Ice Nation has crossed the border. They're marching against my Commander. I have to warn her."

Alex didn't hear the last of what Indra said, but he imagined that it was important. But he was too focused on staying alive and getting to that cave.

But being in the cave made him more anxious than when they were out in the open. Bellamy didn't make things better with with pacing and brooding.

"We're losing Clarke."

"Relax. Save your energy." Kane told Bellamy.

"Kane's right, son. The army will move soon. You'll need your strength for what comes next." Bellamy didn't answer Pike and went back to where Alex was sitting.

"Your anxiousness is making me anxious." Alex said.

"Every second we sit here doing nothing, Clarke gets further and further away from us." Bellamy sighed.

"Hey, we'll find her."

"Not by sitting here." Bellamy looked to his left and sighed.

Alex followed his gaze to the dead Azgeda Grounders that they brought into the cave with them. He shook his head. "Please, tell me you're not thinking what I'm thinking." Alex whispered.

Bellamy looked back at Alex. "It's the only way to get to Clarke now. I can save her." He whispered back.

Alex didn't have time to answer him because they both heard Monty ask about his father. It was a sad story. Azgeda were a vicious clan, and Monty's father died saving four out of fifteen kids then the Grounder clan shot down.

"That was Azgeda. Not all Grounders are the same." Kane said.

"They are to me." Pike said.

"Then you're being close minded. One of my good friends is a Grounder. He's one of the nicest people I've met." Alex said.

Pike glared at the boy. "You tell that to me when they kill eleven kids and dozens of your people."

What felt like hours later, Monty finally finished telling the story about how they survived Mount Weather. It was a long and unpleasant story, but Alex silently thanked Monty for making the rest of the group distracted while Bellamy dressed as Azgeda and headed out to find Clarke.

Monty went up to Alex and looked around. "Where's Bellamy?" He asked Alex.

Alex cringed but stayed silent, but looked over to where the dead bodies were laying. "Oh, crap. Bellamy what're doing?" Monty angrily turned back to Alex. "You let him go?" He half shouted.

"We don't have time for this. Come on, the army's passed by. Let's go." Kane said.

It didn't take long to find Bellamy. He was limped and had to lean on trees so he wouldn't fall over. "What happened?" Monty asked.

"I almost had her." Bellamy huffed.

"Pike. Find their trail." Kane said.

"It's useless. He knows he's being followed now."

Bellamy sighed and started to walk again, but Monty and Alex quickly grabbed onto him. "Hey. You can't even walk." Kane said.

"So, what? We give up? Let him kill her?"

"Bellamy!" Monty said. "I wanna find her too. But look at your leg. You could die out here, and we have no trail-"

"We can't lose Clarke!" Bellamy shouted. "We can't lose her." He said desperately.

"We'll find her, okay?" Alex rubbed his shoulder. "We will figure something out, we promise."

● ● ●

Spencer woke up after being harshly pushed.

She quickly panicked and looked around, only to see Murphy's glare and Emori's amused face. "You were whimpering. It was getting annoying." Murphy said harshly.

"Get nightmares often?" Emori snickered.

"Uh, sometimes." Spencer stuttered, still shaken by the nightmare she was having.

Spencer sat up and looked around. They were still on the water, but she could see land in the distance. She breathed in relief. She wasn't to fond of being near her former boyfriend while he hated her very being. Or Emori's amusement at her suffering.

Thankfully it didn't take but a few more minutes to get to shore.

Spencer stepped off the boat and relished in being on land again. She didn't like the feeling of being on water. She looked back to see Jaha was still in "The City of Light."

She couldn't believe she almost let herself swallow that stupid chip. She had to stop being so weak. She didn't want to become like that man.

"Jaha? Earth to Jaha. Come in, Jaha." Murphy said.

"Yes, John?" Jaha asked, once he was back in his own body.

"Hate to breakup your little Zen-nap, but we're here."

Jaha looked around. "Already?"

"Yeah. A lot faster with a motor."

Jaha soon walked up beside Spencer, who was taking in the scenery. "Soon, we will show our people the beauty of the City." Jaha mused.

Spencer shook her head.

"Alright. Let's get a move on, you two." Jaha called back to Murphy and Emori.

"Right behind you." Emori called out. "We head West, towards that rise."

To think Spencer would be used to all the walking they had to do by now, still months later, walking was probably one of the only things she hated on Earth. Walking, walking, walking. To make matters worse, she had to walk alongside Murphy who couldn't stop looking at her only to glare.

It seems he could multitask since he was gathering some wood while glaring at Spencer, who was sitting across from Jaha, who of course was in "the City of Light."

"Hey." Emori's brother said to Jaha. "Have you really been to the City of Light?"

Emori scoffed. "Shut up, Otan. I'm not listening to that skrish again."

Jaha only smiled and got up from his sitting position. "Come. Walk with me." Jaha and Otan then starting walking away.

Spencer didn't realize she stood up until she starting moving towards Jaha, but quickly stopped herself.

It was alarming to her, to say the least. She didn't trust Jaha before, but she trusted him even less now if that was possible. She thought the whole City of Light was bogus. But now, she was started to think it was dangerous.

"Thank God he's got somebody else to preach to now, huh?" Murphy joked.

"Not a believer?" Emori joked back.

"I believe you're here for a reason."

Spencer rolled her eyes and forced herself to pay attention to literally anything else. She couldn't listen to Murphy flirt with someone who wasn't her.

Instead, she focused on the man in front of her. Or rather, what was beside him. Some sort of backpack. Whatever must've been inside was valuable. Or at least, that's what she thought. She was so tempted to just take a peek. But she didn't know what the man with the disfigured face would do to her if she messed with it.

Apparently, Emori was curious too because she noticed her starting to sneak up towards the man. But Spencer quickly got up and put her hand on Emori's shoulder. "I don't think that's a good idea." She whispered.

"Well, good thing I don't have to listen to you." Emori smirked.

Spencer sighed. _Oh well, I tried I guess._

She watched as Emori made her way up to the backpack. Even Murphy was saying it was a bad idea, but this Grounder was determined.

Then she almost picked it up when the man suddenly awoke and grabbed her throat, lifting her up in the air. Murphy and Spencer were quick to run to the girl.

"Hey, come on, big fella. There's no harm done, alright? Just out her down." Murphy said. "Just put her down!"

Spencer saw that the man wasn't letting up, so she ran and grabbed a piece of firewood and quickly bashed it against the side of the man's head. But it did nothing.

Spencer was shocked but she kept hitting and hitting, until Murphy started doing the same. "There is no pain in the City of Light." The man said.

Spencer and Murphy both wore shocked expressions at the man's statement. But with the man being distracted, Emori had time to grab her knife and sliced the man's throat. Splashing red blood onto her and Spencer's face.

The man finally let go of Emori and fell into Spencer's arms. The man soon fell over.

Spencer helped Emori back on her feet and she gave a quick nod to her in thanks. But caught her breath and picked up the backpack and started jogging down the path, but turned back to the former couple.

"You both coming or what?"

Murphy immediately followed after Emori. Spencer knew she probably wasn't welcome to follow by him, but she had no choice.

As soon as they got back to the boat, Emori got a rag and started wiping the blood off her face. But Murphy pulled Spencer aside.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He asked harshly.

"If you remember correctly, we just killed one of Jaha's disciples and we ran." Spencer said.

"You should've stayed on that island and rotted there. I don't want you here. You're not gonna get me to forgive you. You're not gonna win me over. You have a better chance staying alive with Jaha." Murphy seethed and went back over to Emori.

Spencer sighed and shook off whatever feelings of betrayal she had and walked back over, only to see Emori kiss his cheek.

She felt her heart shatter into a hundred pieces, but however she was feeling, she forced her face to wear a bored expression.

Soon, Emori's brother came back. "Took you long enough." Emori smiled.

"You shouldn't have opened that." Otan said.

Spencer's eyes narrowed at the boy as he walked over to the other two and closed the backpack. "You're not wearing your scarf." Emori said.

Spencer moved around to see Otan put in a password to lock the bag. He took the chip. Murphy realized it too and he quickly grabbed the bag and backed away.

"How'd you know how to do that?" Murphy asked.

"Give me the backpack, John."

Murphy snickered. "No."

Otan glared and suddenly put a knife to Emori's throat. "Easy, easy. Come on, easy."

"What are you doing?" Emori asked her brother. "Otan, let me go!"

Spencer wanted to stop Otan, but she wasn't even close enough to get her without putting her in harm's way. Then, Jaha approached. "It doesn't have to be this way, John."

"What the hell is going on?" Emori struggled.

"Otan ate that stupid chip, that's what's going on." Spencer scowled.

"No one else has to die today." Jaha said.

"Tell me, is your imaginary friend waterproof?" Murphy asked and quickly held the bag over the water. "Should we find out?"

"She's not imaginary. She's very, very real. And she can help you. All you have to do is say yes."

"All you have to do is let Emori go."

Jaha slowly approached Murphy and Spencer felt helpless as she stood there while Otan had his eye on her so she couldn't do anything without getting Emori killed.

"You're in a lot of pain, John. I've been there. Losing my son almost killed me. The City of Light unburdened me. It made me whole. I can unburden you, John. You just simply return what's mine."

Spencer saw as Murphy looked like he was debating it, letting his eyes drift to look at her then Emori. "Nah, I got a better idea." Then he hovered the bag above the water. "You want me to stop? You let her go right now or I'm gonna drown the bitch in the red dress."

Jaha put his arms up and slowly backed away and Otan let Emori go. "Emori, get in the boat." Murphy instructed.

Spencer looked at Murphy with pleading eyes. She saw his eyes soften, if just for a moment, she thought he was going to tell her to go with them. But his gaze turned sour and threw the pack and left on the boat with Emori.

~~~~~~~~~~


	31. Ye Who Enter Here

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

**Bold = Trigedasleng**

~~~~~~~~~~

Alex took a deep breath before following his friends through an entrance of Mount Weather.

Three weeks ago, Abby decided to use the mountain's medical facilities as well as using the mountain as living quarters for some of their people.

It had been awhile since Alex had been back. The part of his leg where some bone marrow had been extracted had already completely healed, but he could still remember the dull end of the drill digging into his skin. He could hear his own screams and those of his new friends.

Alex jumped when Bellamy placed a hand on his shoulder. "You alright, Neil?"

Alex shook away his uneasiness and told himself that he was safe. "Yup. Just some painful memories here. That's all."

Bellamy nodded and rubbed Alex's shoulder. "I get it. Let's just get this over with, Okay?" Alex nodded.

It was odd to see the mess hall in the Mountain lively. It used to be filled with the dead bodies of men, women, and children. But now, the Farm Station survivors were here, including Pike.

"Welcome!" Pike said, getting up from his chair. "Come. Join us."

"Someone's made themselves at home." Raven muttered.

"There must be thirty of them in here." Octavia pointed out.

"Thirty-six, but the more the merrier." Pike chuckled.

"Thirty-six? Wow!" Octavia said sarcastically. "The Grounders are gonna think we moved in."

"Well, there was no room at the inn." Pike said, making Alex want to roll his eyes.

"And this is your option?" Octavia asked.

"O." Bellamy scolded.

"I'm outta here." She said and walked out, Alex following behind.

Once Alex finally caught up to her, Octavia was sitting in the roof of the Mount Weather entrance. "You okay?" He asked once he sat down beside her.

" **Trig, Alex**."

Alex smiled. " **Sorry. Are you okay**?"

Octavia sighed. " **Moving Farm Station in the mountain is a bad idea. The Grounders are never gonna except this."**

" **Yeah, I agree. Pike's not making this better. I don't trust him**."

Octavia nodded, and was about to respond but Bellamy found them. "You okay?" She nodded.

Bellamy gave a look to Alex, and he knew that was his cue to leave the siblings alone. But it wasn't long till he was called back by Bellamy.

"There's gonna be an attack at the summit at Polis. We're going to save our people."

"O-okay, I'll grab my gear." Alex said.

"No." Bellamy ordered. "It won't be safe. You need to stay here."

"What? No! I want to save our friends too!"

Bellamy grabbed Alex by the shoulders. "Listen to me, okay? I can't have anything bad happening to you." Alex felt his heart involuntarily flutter at his statement. "Spencer would beat the shit outta me if I got you killed." He smirked.

Alex watched Bellamy walk away and out of the mountain. He sighed. _Please don't get yourself killed, Blake._

"Damn it."

"What happened to that Raven Reyes confidence?" Sinclair teased.

"Can I help?" Alex asked Raven.

"Do you know how to hack extremely intricate launch codes?" Raven asked, leaving Alex speechless. She smirked. "Even if you could, it's a 12-digit code. There are a trillion combinations."

She sighed and turned to Sinclair. "So, it's gonna take me a minute." She said with attitude.

Sinclair was getting impatient, and even asked Gina if she had something. "Come on, guys. It's gonna be dark soon. We're working analog, we're working digital, what are we missing?"

"How could the president remember that code? He was so old. Maybe he wrote it down somewhere?" Alex suggested.

"Oh, come on. That's like setting the launch codes to all zeros." Raven said.

"And yet, it's better than anything we've come up with." Sinclair said.

"Alex and I will check the president's office." Gina said, making the boy frown.

"We'll keep working the tech angle. Hopefully, one of us will get lucky."

Alex looked around frantically in search of those launch codes. He also didn't want to spend anymore time around Gina. He just couldn't place it. It's not like she was a bad person. She was sweet, very sweet in fact. So Alex couldn't figure out why he felt so awkward around her, and almost...angry.

Gina looked over to Alex and saw how fidgety he was, slightly bouncing on the balls of his feet. "You good?" She asked with a laugh.

Alex couldn't help but roll his eyes and huff.

Gina placed her hands on her hips and sighed. "Ever since we met, you've never liked me."

Alex froze. "I...like you."

Gina laughed loudly, making Alex flinch. "Right. You always have an annoyed look on your face when I'm around. I just don't understand what I did."

Alex's shoulders relaxed when he took a deep breath and turned to look at Gina. "Honestly, I don't know. You're a sweet woman, but...I don't know. I guess some people just don't get along?"

"Would this have anything to do with me being Bellamy's girlfriend?"

Alex tensed up again and felt shivers down his spine. "W-what are you talking about? Of course not!"

Gina had a soft smile on her face and looked at Alex with pity, making him want to scowl at her. Instead he huffed. "Let's just keep searching, alright?" He tried not to shout.

"Yes, sir." She joked.

Alex sighed in frustration as he looked through yet another book on a shelf. "No luck, huh?" Gina frowned.

He shook his head. "Nope. I guess you didn't find anything either?" Gina shook her head, and brought the radio up to her lips.

"Gina to Raven, come in."

Alex decided to look around the office some more, it was a silly thought, but he thought what if it was underneath his desk. That would be incredibly stupid. But Alex decided to try while Gina told Raven about their failure.

All of a sudden, Alex heard muffled screaming from Gina and he heard her fall to the floor, coughing.

He heard the thudding footsteps of the mystery Grounder coming around the desk. Alex willed himself to be as quiet as possible. He saw Gina's blood seep through the tiny crack between the floor and the wooden desk.

He brought his hand up to his mouth in an attempt to quiet his whimpers when the blood reached him, the knees of the pants soaking up the crimson.

Alex didn't realize he was crying until he heard a tear fall and hit the floor below him. Thankfully, the person didn't hear it since they were too busy putting in launch codes. Soon, the person left.

Alex quickly got out from underneath his hiding spot and saw that the Grounder had put in the code for a self destruct sequence. He quickly grabbed the radio.

"Raven, we got a problem." He tried to keep his voice from trembling. "A Grounder set off the self destruct sequence. He stabbed Gina. You have to get them. There's only forty seconds left!"

There was no response from Raven after that.

"Alex..." He quickly looked to see Gina wobbling towards him. "Go...I'll put in the code....go help Raven..."

Alex felt guilty when he didn't hesitate to leave the poor women. He quickly ran outside to see Sinclair and Raven looking at the Grounder and trying to talk to Gina.

"Alex! Gina's not answering!" Raven said once she spotted Alex. "We have to stop the sequence!"

Alex nodded quickly and ran to go back inside the mountain, but it was too late.

The mountain had exploded, along with every man, woman, and child.

_It happened again..._

Alex felt a tear escape his eye as he watched the black smoke rise from the entrance he just escaped out of. He could almost tell the difference between the smoke from the fire and the smoke from all the innocent bodies that were just charred.

"Bellamy!" Raven called out into the radio. "The Grounders attacked Mount Weather. It's gone. It's all gone. Gina didn't make it…I'm so sorry." She cried.

Alex sat up and looked to Raven and Sinclair, he was hugging her as she sobbed, only pausing to answer Bellamy when he spoke again. "Alex! Alex? Did Alex make it?"

Raven nodded, then shaking her head when she remembered Bellamy couldn't see her. "Yes. Yeah, he's here." She sniffled.

Alex didn't even notice Bellamy's faint sigh of relief, he was too in shock. He didn't even notice Raven trying to get his attention until she was shaking his shoulder. "We gotta go back to Arkadia."

"B-but what about…about…" Alex stuttered, his voice so small that it came out as barely a whisper.

"There's nothing left, Alex…" Sinclair frowned. "Come on, we gotta go."

Sinclair basically had to drag the two poor kids back to the rover to go back to Arkadia. Raven shed tears the entire way back, and Alex looked numb on the outside. But all he needed was to go to the privacy of his own room to cry it out.

But unfortunately, he was unable to do that since everyone had to ask questions about what happened. Thankfully, Raven and Sinclair took most of the heat, Alex only being asked a few questions.

Alex internally cringed when Raven said, "Alex was the last one out of Mount Weather." And she happened to say that as soon as Bellamy and his group returned from Polis.

All breath got knocked out of Alex when Bellamy quickly stormed over and gave him a bear crushing hug. "You're okay." Bellamy whispered in relief.

Alex's state of shock quickly passed and he wrapped his arms around Bellamy. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." He whispered back.

"It was all a set-up, Neil." Bellamy frowned when he pulled away from the hug. "I shouldn't have trusted Echo."

"I'm so sorry, Bell." Alex rubbed Bellamy's shoulder.

"We're sorry about Gina too." Raven voiced. "Alex was the last one to see her."

Upon hearing that, Bellamy looked to Alex, only to see his desperate eyes silently pleading him not to ask about Gina. Bellamy wasn't even sure if he wanted to know, so he didn't ask.

Soon enough, Alex managed to escape the group of people and council members who needed every single detail of the whole incident. It stressed him out and he was in desperate need of a getaway.

Entering his room, he felt his pants felt stiff, and sticking to his skin. _Blood_... It felt like only a minute of peace and quiet in his room before someone knocked on Alex's door.

He sighed and opened the door. "Oh, hey, Bellamy."

Bellamy entered Alex's room holding two cups of moonshine. Alex raised an eyebrow. "I thought you could use one." Bellamy handed him a cup, which Alex gladly took.

"I don't usually drink, but, I can make an exception this time." Alex took a sip of the moonshine and immediately cringed at the strong taste.

Bellamy watched as Alex took a seat at a small table a few feet away from his bed and took another swig of moonshine, actively trying to ignore the red stains on the knees of his pants. Bellamy knew it had to have been Gina's blood. He pushed the thought away.

But Bellamy couldn't help but notice a small burn on the side of Alex's side and hummed in displeasure, earning a curious look from the younger boy. "You know, there's a burn on your face."

Alex's eyebrows knitted together in confusion and reached up to feel that there was indeed a burn on his right cheek. "Hmm, I never noticed. Guess I was too shocked to process it."

Bellamy frowned. "Hold on." He said and went to grab a med kit. He soon came back and pulled a chair out to sit in front of Alex, preparing to soothe the burn.

"I'm fine, Bell. Really." Alex tried to say, but Bellamy ignored him and started cleaning the skin around the burn.

"I'm glad you're alive, Neil." Bellamy smiled, making Alex blush. "God knows what Spencer would do to me if you died." He joked.

Although, Alex didn't take it as a joke and involuntary frowned. "So, you're only doing this for Spencer?"

Bellamy nervously chuckled. "What do you mean? Doing what?"

"Taking care of me. Being my friend."

Bellamy's eyes softened and gently guided Alex to look at him. "Of course not. You really are my friend, Neil. And not just cause Spencer basically told me to take care of you. I'm positive we would've become friends anyway."

Alex grinned. "Well, that's good to know."

Bellamy grinned back and continued soothing Alex's burn.

~~~~~~~~~~


	32. Watch the Thrones

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

**Bold = Trigedasleng**

~~~~~~~~~~

" **I stand with…I stand with the Commander.** " Alex mumbled. "Uh, I…crap." He sighed.

Alex sat outside the Ark, reading a book Lincoln had given him. He was practicing Trigedasleng. It wasn't too difficult, he was a fast learner. But he did have trouble with some verbs.

The PA system brought his attention away from learning to the sick looking Grounders that were walking through the gates, immediately being hassled by the Skaikru guards.

Alex sighed and put his book away, jogging to catch up with Octavia who started helping the Grounders in. "Hey, let me help." Alex called out and helped a Grounder who could barely walk inside.

Once all the Grounders were safely inside, Alex quickly went to find Bellamy, who was probably already at the memorial service for the losses in Mount Weather.

Alex walked in when Pike was giving a speech. "All that's certain is that we die. How we die is up to us. Who will speak for Iris Jones?"

Alex took a seat next to Bellamy as Miller's boyfriend stood up and made his way up to the front. "Iris was strong. Good with a knife. She saved my life. I'm just sorry I couldn't do the same for her."

"We will all miss Iris. May we meet again. Who will speak for Gina Martin?"

Alex tensed and looked over at Bellamy, who was already getting up out of his seat. "Gina was real. She always saw the light, even here. She deserved better."

Alex still felt guilty. He was a coward and left Gina to die. Somewhere deep down, Alex knew that her wounds were fatal but kept telling himself he could've saved her. Done something. Not run away like a scared little boy. Bellamy never asked about her, since Alex was the last one to see Gina. Alex was grateful for that.

Suddenly, a bunch of guards came in and informed Pike about an army that was camped outside of Arkadia. He was whispering to Abby and Kane. "You gave a Grounder one of our radios?" Pike said loudly, making the people in the room talk amongst themselves.

Alex suddenly felt sick. He had a bad feeling.

"Sir, are we under attack?" Monty's mom asked.

"No, we are not under attack." Kane informed. "Their Commander sent a peacekeeping force. To ensure that we can defend against any further attacks from the Ice Nation."

"Peacekeeping force?" Pike asked incredulously. "Even you can't be that naïve, Marcus."

Alex forced himself to walk up to the now arguing men. "Watch your tone. You're talking to the next Chancellor." Abby said. "We're all grieving. This has been hard on all of us. But we can't let anger drive our policy."

"Anger IS our policy." Pike started, making Alex step up towards him but Bellamy stopped him from getting any closer. "If they're here to defend us, as you say, then tell them to go home! We can defend ourselves!"

Alex had never felt this way before. Such intense anger. She wanted to put Octavia's sword through Pike's stomach.

"You!" A man in the crowd pointed at Lincoln. "You don't belong here. My boy is dead!" He said and threw a rock at Lincoln, hitting him right in the head.

Then all hell inside Alex's heart broke loose.

Alex charged at the man and started relentlessly beating the man. Bellamy quickly ran over to help the guards protect Lincoln. Even when Pike whistled so loud it could've made a dog's ear bleed, Alex kept punching the man.

"Hey, hey! Neil!" Bellamy pulled Alex off the man and he instantly calmed in Bellamy's arms.

"We do not attack our own! Fighting each other only makes us weak. The enemy is not in this camp. The enemy is out there." Pike preached.

Alex wanted to start making Pike bleed, but Bellamy held him in place. Slowly, but surely dragging his riled up friend out of the room and back to his dorm.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Neil?" Bellamy shouted once the door shut.

"What do you mean? That man attacked Lincoln!"

"He lost his son. He was just angry." Bellamy tried to calm down.

Alex shook his head and laughed bitterly while he paced. "You know what this situation is starting to look like, Bell? Reminds me of the Holocaust."

Bellamy furrowed his brows. "What?"

"Oh, come on man. I know you're a history nerd. Back in the 1900s Hitler wanted all Jews dead. Pike is Hitler, Bell."

Bellamy sighed. "This is not the same thing."

Alex chuckled. "Oh, really?" Bellamy stayed silent. The angered boy just walked past and rushed to the med bay. "Lincoln. Are you alright?"

"He'll be fine." Abby said while stitching his head.

"I hope you're going to put that guy in a cell." Alex said to Kane.

"No. No charges." Lincoln said.

"Lincoln, we need to set an example." Kane said.

"Yeah, we do."

"The man just lost his son, Marcus." Pike said.

"Yeah, but Lincoln didn't do that." Alex said as Octavia walked in.

"I said no charges. I'm sure the beating he took from Alex was more than enough." Lincoln said, making Alex look away from Pike's glare but thanked Lincoln and walked out.

Lincoln looked to Alex. "You shouldn't have done what you did, young Neil."

"He deserved it!"

"Alex. Please."

Alex sighed and left the med bay. On his way back to his dorm, he ran into Bellamy. "Hey…"

"Hey, Neil."

"Look, I'm…I'm sorry about before. I let my anger get the best of me. Lincoln helped me see that."

Bellamy looked around before responding. "Yeah." He tried walking away but Alex stopped him.

"Hey, I am really sorry. Please, Bell. Forgive me."

"Look, Neil. I don't have time for this. I know you're sorry, okay. We'll talk tomorrow." Bellamy said and quickly walked away.

Alex had amazing intuition, that was something he's always bragged about. Even if sometimes he'd ignore his instincts. But this bad feeling he had was so strong, he had to follow Bellamy. And he was right to. He was gathering guns.

Alex quickly went to Lincoln, afraid that Pike was finally making a move to slaughter innocent Grounders. And he was right, again.

Alex, Lincoln, Harper, and Monroe all stood in front of the Arkadia gates, blocking Bellamy and Pike's small army. "You need to step aside, right now." Bellamy ordered.

"What the hell are the guns for, Bell?" Alex asked, trying to keep himself calm.

"There's an army out there. We need to hit them before they hit us."

"That army was sent to protect us." Lincoln said.

"Do we have a problem?" Pike asked.

"I have always done what is best for us. I need you to trust that I am doing that now." Bellamy said, convincing Harper and Monroe to leave.

"You, too, Alex. Lincoln." Pike said. "You wanna prove you're one of us, let us pass."

"I'm not moving."

"Neither am I." Alex said.

Suddenly, the man that hit Lincoln before held up his gun. "Get outta the way, Grounder."

_Alright, that tears it. Sorry, Lincoln._

Alex grabbed the man's gun and hit him with it. And to his surprise, Lincoln helped by grabbing the man and holding his knife to his throat. Thus, making everyone hold up their guns.

"Guns down. Guns down!" Bellamy ordered.

"So much for the good Grounder." Monty's mom said.

"Oh hush, witch." Alex mumbled.

"Who's people are you defending here, boys?" Pike asked.

"Lincoln. Alex, stand down. No one has to get hurt here." Bellamy said.

"You're already planning to hurt innocent people!" Alex shouted.

"We can't let you start a war." Lincoln said.

"We're already at war." Pike said.

"You can't stop this." Bellamy said.

"All unstationed security personnel report to the main gate." The group heard from the PA system.

Alex smirked. "Looks like we just did."

Guards came rushing out of the Ark, Octavia leading the charge and getting beside Lincoln and Alex. "What's wrong with you?" She asked her brother.

Lincoln finally let the man go once Kane ordered him to. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Abby asked Pike.

"What you didn't have the guts to do."

"Guards, take them to lockup. Now." Abby ordered. "Everybody, back to your quarters. It's over."

"Nothing is over." Pike opened his big, fat mouth yet again. "We are surrounded by warriors who want us dead."

"Shut up, Pike!" Alex stepped forward.

"That's enough!" Kane yelled.

"No, it isn't. Not even close. Why don't you show us all what you let the Grounders do to you yesterday? Come on, Kane. I think that the people who are about to vote for you have a right to know."

Kane had no choice now. He rolled up his sleeve and lifted his arm into the arm to reveal a mark on his forearm. "It's the mark of the Commander's coalition. It means we are the 13th clan. It means we are in this fight together."

"No. It's what farmers used to do to their livestock."

"Right before the slaughterhouse!" Monty's mother's annoying voice called out.

Then people started saying that Pike should be Chancellor. Next was people chanting "Pike" and Bellamy started it.

Octavia and Alex gave each other extremely concerned looks.

_What the hell is wrong with Bellamy?_

~~~~~~~~~~  
 **God, I hate Pike so much. I tried so hard to keep my own thoughts to myself and not let my anger out through Alex. But GOD, Pike is such a Grounder racist.** **I believe he was a good man, but only before he got to the ground.**


	33. Hakeldama

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

The vote was in.

Pike was now the Chancellor.

Alex almost had a nervous breakdown at the news. He couldn't it believe it. It felt like a dream, well, more like a nightmare. But it was real, and it was horrible.

Alex rushed out to Bellamy's quarter's in hopes to stop him from doing something he'd regret. Upon arriving, Bellamy was already walking out of the door.

Bellamy stopped in his tracks when he saw Alex, a desperate look on his face. He sighed. He already knew what he was there to talk to him about, and he didn't have the time or the patience.

"Where are you going, Bell? In your guard's uniform?" Alex asked, his lip already starting to tremble.

"You already know the answer to that, Neil." Bellamy refused to look into Alex's eyes.

"Bellamy, you can't. This isn't something you can come back from."

Bellamy stayed silent, looking at anything else except Alex.

"Bellamy, look at me." Bellamy huffed and rolled his eyes. "You know this is wrong. You can't even look me in the eyes!"

Bellamy finally forced himself to look at Alex, immediately regretting that decision when he saw he had tears in his eyes. His eyes softened, almost reaching out to comfort him but quickly snapped out of it. "I have to do this."

"Bell, Please! You'll never forgive yourself, and neither will Octavia. Don't be on the wrong side."

"You're wrong, Neil. It's you who's on the wrong side." Bellamy said, pushing past Alex and heading outside the Ark to meet Pike and his group.

Alex followed Bellamy outside, hoping that maybe somehow he could get through to his friend. Maybe he'll turn around, looking at his friend and see that he was making a mistake.

But that didn't happen.

Alex felt like collapsing when he saw Bellamy walk through the front gates.

Alex stayed outside until the group came back, all covered in blood. But none of it was their blood.

Alex knew. His friend had become a mass murderer.

"Everybody, listen up!" Pike called out. "Twenty-four hours ago, you elected me your Chancellor. Every action I've taken since, and every action I will take, will be to achieve one sacred goal. The creation of a self-sustaining, prosperous and safe Arkadia. This morning, on a muddy field, our people paid tribute to those who have been taken from us by sending a message to the Grounders. This land is ours now! Resist and you will be met by force! Fight and you will be greeted by death. Today is a new beginning. Mark it down, remember it, just like the Grounders will remember it."

Alex wiped away the stray tear that left his eye and stormed back to his dorm. Shutting the door with a loud slam, he immediately let out his anger and frustration.

"Ahh!" Alex screamed and banged his fists again his door. Over and over and over and over. He screamed. He cursed. He bled.

He could not believe what his so-called friend did to the people that were there to protect them. What happens now? Would Alex be executed for associating with Grounders? _Would Bellamy pull the trigger himself?_

A knock on the door brought Alex out of his trace and he finally focused back on reality. He quickly realized how badly he tore up his room, and how much he was bleeding. Though, he ignored it and opened the door only to quickly try to shut it again.

"Neil." Bellamy forcefully opened the door and stepped inside, wearing a shocked expression when he saw the state of Alex's room.

"What the hell do you want, Hitler?" Alex seethed.

Bellamy flinched. It was a rare occurrence for Alex to raise his voice in rage, and it was never directed at his friends. So, seeing him this angry slightly shocked Bellamy. He hated that he was the cause of Alex's anger, but he kept telling himself it had to be done.

"Look," Bellamy started calmly, "I know you think that the Grounders were protecting us, but it was only a matter of-"

"A matter of nothing! Those Grounders were here to help us! And you killed them all! You murdered innocent people, Bellamy! Our people!"

"They were not our people."

"But they were! We became the 13th clan!"

"You need to wake up, Neil. Stop living in the clouds. The Grounders only know violence. We've been fighting them since we landed. If you were with us then, you'd understand."

"Bellamy, you don't understand what you just did! All the hard work we put into getting the Grounders to make an alliance with us! Clarke's hard work! All the deaths that now mean nothing!" Alex shouted.

"The Grounders betrayed us at Mount Weather, or do you not remember? Remember how they drilled into you for your bone marrow? Yeah, that was because Lexa betrayed us!"

"Don't do that. You know we would've made the same deal she did."

"No, we wouldn't, Neil. You're so naïve." Bellamy smiled bitterly.

"What about Finn? He died so we could live, you know."

Bellamy's eyes glared at Alex. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't I? I remember what happened. Finn killed innocents, and Lexa only wanted him. She was being merciful and she could've wiped us out and she chose not to, even when she had every right to. Finn died so we could survive, and you just undid all that. You caused his death to be in vain."

Bellamy reached out and grabbed a hold of Alex's collar violently, pulling him close so that they were face to face, their noses almost touching. "You better choose your next words carefully, Neil..." Bellamy spoke lowly, still not releasing his tight grip.

Alex felt his heartbeat thumping rapidly in his chest, but he was too angry to shut his mouth. "I wonder what Spencer would think?" His voice wavered.

Bellamy quickly raised his fist, ready to connect with Alex's face.

But he quickly stopped himself. He saw Alex's scared expression and...he just couldn't do it. No matter how angry he was.

Instead he pushed Alex away, shocking him.

"Spencer would agree with me. She'd be on our side. The right side." Bellamy said, turning away from Alex.

Alex frowned and shook his head. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Blake."

● ● ●

"We're almost there, Ms. Rolfe!" Jaha smiled.

Spencer sighed and trudged behind the man, still not appreciating his enthusiasm after all this time.

It had been weeks since Murphy left with Emori. She really thought he would take her with them, but he proved her wrong. Smashing her heart into little pieces with his words and his glare as he sailed away.

Even though Spencer was heartbroken, she was kind of excited to see her friends again. Especially Alex and Bellamy. God, she missed them so much. She hopes they were doing well.

She tried not to think about how she wouldn't see Finn.

Finally, the little group came up in the Ark. Spencer liked the name change, of course. "Arkadia. Has a nice ring to it." Spencer voiced.

"They've been busy." Jaha said.

Jaha smiled and held his hands up, along with Spencer. The man coming out immediately recognized Jaha. Spencer also noticed the wicked shiner the man had on his eye. Farm Station apparently.

"No Grounders through the gates. Chancellor's orders."

Spencer snickered. "How long has it been since Abby made that rule?"

"Abby is no longer in command."

"Oh, shit. Things have changed."

Soon, things escalated resulting in Otan getting killed. _Oof, Emori won't like that if she finds out about it._ Of course, Jaha told Otan to go to the City of Light, making Spencer roll her eyes for about 800th time.

Abby soon came out. "Spencer? Thelonious?" She quickly went to hug her, and it was greatly appreciated. She really needed a hug. And of course, the conversation between Jaha and Abby was awkward.

After bringing them in for a checkup, Abby wanted to question Jaha and Spencer. "Where have you guys been?" She asked, mostly directing her question to the former Chancellor.

Jaha spouted his City of Light sermon to Abby, and her glancing at Spencer confused at what the man was saying.

Spencer didn't really feel like she was needed there, and hearing the same spiel about the same thing over and over got real irritating. "Abby, I don't believe I'm needing here for the telling of Jaha's sermon. So, can I go? I'm sleepy."

Ultimately, the young woman complained so much about her apparent lack of sleep that Abby allowed her to leave and thankfully, Spencer got her own dorm back.

Spencer felt nervous walking down the halls of the Ark again. Part of her just wanted to sleep for a few days, and not run into any of her old friends.

It seems like the odds were in her favor since she made it to her dorm without being bothered by anyone.

She looked around her old room. It was just the same as she left it. Even the books that were knocked over from when Murphy kicked the table were still scattered on the floor, then blushing when she remembered the events afterward.

"Spencer!"

Spencer jumped at the sound of her door slamming open and Alex shouting. She noticed his bruised knuckles, red eyes, and tired look on his face. No matter how hard he tried to look happy and excited, she could tell that something was not right. But she wanted to enjoy the moment right now.

"Oh, God. I missed you so much!" Spencer yelled, running into his open arms.

Alex held on to his dear friend tightly. He was so afraid of letting go. He wanted to hold on for as long as she would let him.

Spencer soon let go and examined his face. "What happened to you, man?"

Alex sighed. "It's a long story." But he shook his head. "But what about you? What happened with you? I wasn't expecting you to return for awhile."

Spencer smiled sadly. "It's a long story. But, I'll tell you my story if you tell me yours."

"Please, tell me yours first. I need it."

Spencer frowned. _What the hell happened to him while I was gone?_

Alex moved the table and chairs back into place, his hands shaking slightly when he stacked up the books on the table.

All the while, Spencer was watching him. Taking in how nervously he moved, how his hands were shaking, and the almost vacant look in his eyes. It was like he was on autopilot, making Spencer even more worried about him.

Alex almost flinched when he saw her staring at him. He's always known how well she could read people sometimes, but he wasn't aware she could see through people's souls.

Alex smiled awkwardly and patted his hand on a chair, signaling her to sit down as he sat in a chair of his own. "So, tell me everything." He said when Spencer took a seat.

"Honestly, I don't know where to start." Spencer laughed.

"Well, how about Murphy? Where is he?"

Spencer grimaced. "That's a long story itself."

"Well, damn. Sounds like you had quite a journey. Just start at when you caught up to Jaha's group, I guess?"

"Hmm, well, we had to walk through the desert for days. Got some wicked sunburn. Almost got blown up by some landmines." Spencer laughed at Alex's sudden concerned expression. She couldn't remember the last time she laughed so genuinely.

"Dude, I'm here. I obviously didn't get blown up!"

Alex smiled, and waved his hand. "Just go on!"

"Then we had to sail across the ocean, basically. Almost got eaten by a sea monster. It was only Jaha, Murphy, and me. Jaha left us to try to find the City of Light because Murphy was injured..." She trailed off.

"Oh god, did he...?"

"No! No...he's alright." Spencer took a deep breath. "He got trapped in this lighthouse, and when he finally got out...he thought I left him there. So, he basically hates me now." Spencer teared up.

Alex quickly reached out and hugged her. She gratefully hugged him back, but soon pulling away. "Okay, now, tell me about you!"

"Ah, no, it's okay. I'm sure you're tired and need to rest." Alex said.

"No, no, no. I want to know, please." She begged. "Don't think I haven't noticed how you're acting. You've been through some shit, bud. I know the signs. Some Earth trauma."

Alex sighed. "Nothing gets past you, huh?"

Alex took a deep breath and let out everything, informing her of everything that's happened in the four months that she'd been gone. It took about an hour to discuss everything.

Spencer felt like she'd just run a marathon. She felt so exhausted from all the information she just learned.

"So, yeah. That's where we're at right now." Alex sighed.

"Alex. I'm so sorry that happened to you. At Mount Weather. I never wanted you to get hurt. I've always been afraid of something like that happening to you. That's exactly why I told you to let Bellamy protect you, but I guess that's not his priority right now..."

"It doesn't matter what happened to me. What matters is that Bellamy is Pike's slave right now. We need to get him back on the right side."

"Alex...I know Bellamy. Once he sets his mind to something, that's it." Spencer said solemnly.

"Trust me. I know."

"I've never trusted Grounders. But killing 300 in their sleep...that's too far. Honestly, it kinda makes me sick."

"So, what do we do about it?" Alex pondered.

"You can help me." Alex and Spencer turned to see Kane standing in the doorway.

~~~~~~~~~~


	34. Bitter Harvest

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

Spencer being recruited by Kane was one of the last things she'd ever thought he'd do. Not too long ago, he wanted her dead.

Of course, Alex agreed right away. He really sympathized with the Grounders. Spencer didn't understand it, but then again, she was a bit biased based on how many times the encounters with them have been bad.

On also based on what Alex told her, the Grounders betrayed them at Mount Weather. She just couldn't understand why he's still not angry at them. At Lexa.

She respected Lexa as a leader, but killing Finn was all it took for Spencer to hate the Grounder. Even with Clarke handling Lexa, she betrayed her once. What's to say she won't do it again?

Spencer was torn. She wanted to help Alex but she didn't trust Kane. She also hadn't talked to Bellamy yet. Maybe he's actually on the right side.

Spencer needed to think before she had to choose who to side with.

Alex wasn't too happy with his friend's choice. He knew how she felt about Grounders, so he understood why she didn't agree right away. He just hoped she doesn't pick the wrong side.

"Raven." Spencer said happily.

"Wow, long time no see." Raven said as she hugged her. "Thought you'd still be with Murphy."

Spencer shook her head. "It looks like you're doing better. How's your leg? I barely saw you limping when you walked over here." She asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

"You know, Spencer, I really thought it was bullshit. But I finally took the key to the City of Light. No more pain."

Spencer's face dropped. "You took the chip?"

"Yeah. And I've never felt this good, even before I got shot. It's incredible." Spencer was going to speak, but Raven continued. "And I know what you're gonna say, I'm going to see Abby right now. Don't worry." She smiled.

Spencer sighed and watched as Raven walked in the direction of the med bay. She didn't like it. Not one bit. But then again, she wasn't unhappy that Raven's pain was gone. But the reason her pain was gone still worried her.

Spencer walked down the halls, heading towards where she remembered Bellamy's dorm was before she left. Already feeling the nerves.

She stopped in her tracks when she saw Lincoln and some Grounders locked up in one big cell. _Pike's so anti-Grounder that he even locked Lincoln up?_ She and Lincoln locked eyes and she managed to say that she was sorry by her facial expression before the guard told her to scram.

Soon, Spencer stood at Bellamy's door. Her fist was up, waiting to knock on the door. She didn't no why she felt so nervous. But before she could even think about bailing, the door opened.

"Spencer?" Bellamy said, half yelling and had a dorky grin on his face.

Spencer was quickly wrapped in a tight hug, leaving her breathless. But she relaxed into the hug and nuzzled into him, taking a moment to memorize the warmth of his embrace. "Hi."

Bellamy pulled away and chuckled. "Hi? Gone for four months and all you say is hi?"

Spencer shrugged. "Sorry. I didn't know what else to say." She chuckled.

"You could tell me where and what you've been doing all this time. For starters." Bellamy invited her into his room.

"Well, a lot's happened."

"I'd imagine. But I wanna hear about it. Is Murphy here too?" Bellamy noticed her frown. "Is he…?"

"Oh, no no. He's fine. He just…" Spencer paused, trying figure out how much she should say.

Bellamy reached over and placed a reassuring hand on her thigh. "It's okay, Spence. You can tell me."

Spencer took a deep breath, not feeling up to retelling that whole story yet again. "We just...had some personal conflicts."

Bellamy snickered. "That's vague."

"Yeah…" Spencer snapped herself out of her state and moved on. "So, Pike's the Chancellor now huh?"

Bellamy sighed. "I guess Alex has told you what's been going on?" Spencer nodded. "Look, Spence, everything that we've been doing has been for the safety of our people."

"But weren't the Grounders also our people when we joined Lexa's coalition?"

"Pike rejected the coalition when he became Chancellor."

"And you killed all those Grounders for our safety?"

"Spence, I've always wanted for our people to be safe. Ever since we landed, I've tried to keep our people safe. That's exactly what we're doing now."

"And what if you're wrong?"

Bellamy shook his head and held on to her shoulders. "We're not wrong. Just trust me, Spence." He said, making her feel weary of his decision making. 

Alex jumped when Spencer opened his dorm door. He looked at her expectantly. "I'll help you and Kane."

Alex smiled. "Good timing. Miller just planted a bug in Pike's office so we can hear what they're up to. Let's go."

"Okay. Let's get this meeting started." Kane, Spencer, Alex, and Miller heard Pike say over the secret radio. "Welcome Farm Station's own Monty Green and Factory girl, Zoe Monroe, as we begin our next crucial phase, expansion and salvation. And this will lead the way."

"Dirt?" They heard Monroe ask.

"Soil. Fertile, arable soil. Vastly more rich than anything we've found since landing. We'll clear the trees and plant within the month."

"We start with soy beans and corn. They grow the fastest." Hannah, Monty's mother, said.

"Is this where we're going?" Monty asked. "There's a village here. What about the people who live there?"

"That's Sector Four. We talked about this." Bellamy said. "The people there are not a threat."

"We need that land. With the loss of Mount Weather's resources, Arkadia will be starving in less than a year." Pike said.

"With all due respect, sir, you still haven't answered Monty's question."

"You know the answer. Every field must be cleared of stones before it's tilled."

"We were spotted by a child. So, they'll be expecting us. But they lost their fighters when we took out the army. We don't expect resistance."

Now Spencer realized Alex nicknamed Hannah as the capital C.

"They're Grounders. They'll resist." Monty said.

"Even if they don't, the Commander's message was clear. Blood must not have blood. That doesn't mean we can start taking-"

"What would you prefer?" Pike interrupted Bellamy. "Die fighting for your home? Or starve to death? Will you do what needs to be done for your people to survive or not?"

Everyone awaited Bellamy's answer, the group listening in more nervous. Especially Spencer. _He can't actually side with Pike on this._ But her denial was quickly shattered at his statement. "We'll do what needs to be done."

Spencer followed after Alex after he stormed out of the room, rather ungracefully. "Alex. What the hell?" She asked once they got back to his dorm.

Alex groaned in frustration as he pulled at his hair. "I just...I still can't believe what Bellamy is willing to do to an innocent village. He says he's trying to keep our people safe, but what he's doing will cause a war that'll be the end of our people. He's gonna get himself killed."

Spencer gave him a sad smile. "You really care about him, don't you?"

Alex sighed. "I don't even know who he is anymore. The guy I knew before all this, he didn't want war. Spence, he was willing to do anything for the people at Mount Weather who helped us. He didn't want a genocide. Now, he's willing to wipe out entire villages who have nothing to do with this other than the fact they're Grounders."

Spencer went up to Alex and hugged him. "I don't know how this'll play out. But I hope everything will be okay."

The two friends found Miller on the way to the bay where Pike's group was leaving. "You get to O alright?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. She's pissed." Miller said.

"I'd imagine. Her brother's on the wrong side."

The three of them finally made it just in time to see Pike's group loading up their rover. Miller quickly went over to his boyfriend, Bryan. And Bellamy made his way over to Spencer. "Wanna join us?" He asked, half joking.

"No, she doesn't." Alex spoke up.

"Last I checked, Spencer can speak for herself."

Spencer rolled her eyes. "I'm staying. Just came here to tell you to not get yourself killed."

Bellamy smirked. "You know I won't." He lost the smirk when he saw Alex's sad and angry face. "I'll see you soon, Spence." He said and got in the rover.

Pacing around once she got back to her dorm, Spencer found herself feeling empty again, the hours passing by rather quickly making her feel helpless to everything.

She despised the bed she was looking at. All she saw was that Murphy was not there, by her side.

She sighed. She knew she had to stop thinking about him. _He's probably balls deep in that Grounder, Emori._ She felt like she wanted to puke at the thought. But then suddenly, she heard banging on her door.

She wondered what the hell is someone doing at her door in the middle of the night.

She opened the door and immediately caught the aroma of moonshine. She looked up and it was none other than Bellamy, drunk and looking quite pitiful.

"Bellamy, you're back. What're doing here? God, you look horrible." Spencer said, but then mentally slapped herself for being so blunt.

Bellamy ignored her comment and invited himself into her room, not bothering to close the door behind him. He stumbled towards a chair, almost falling over until Spencer helped him sit.

"Wow, you are wasted."

Bellamy was calm for a minute, just looking at Spencer's concerned face. Then he had no control of the waterfall that started flowing from his eyes. Spencer immediately wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She then forced the man to look at her.

"Bell. What happened at the village?" She asked, keeping her voice as soft as possible.

"Three of our people died, including Zoe. Octavia warned them."

Spencer's heart clenched at the news but she sighed and sat on Bellamy's lap and just hugged him, occasionally stroking his mop of hair. She didn't know what to say. She wasn't happy that three of their people died, but she still wasn't happy with the choices Bellamy was making.

"People always die. No matter what I do. Always." Bellamy cried. "Both times at Mount Weather, people died because of me. I told Gina she'd be safe at the mountain, then she died."

Spencer shook her head. "No, Bell. It wasn't your fault. It was the Grounders fault both times at Mount Weather. You couldn't have known. I know you probably won't stop blaming yourself, but I truly believe it wasn't your fault."

Bellamy eventually stopped crying and looked up at Spencer, and they locked eyes.

Before she knew it, Bellamy had leaned in and kissed her.

Spencer went wide eyed and fought the urge to slap him. Surprising even herself, she tried to relax into the kiss. She's only thought of him as a friend. Previously being with Murphy, she never thought about a romantic relationship with Bellamy. She thought, _maybe if I was with Bellamy, I could move on from Murphy._

But no. It felt wrong. So, so wrong. Plus, his girlfriend just died. They would only be a rebound for each other. Spencer gently pulled away.

"Bellamy," She said softly, "you're drunk."

Bellamy looked down. "I just wanna feel something else, anything else." He mumbled. "Please..." He whispered, so soft that Spencer didn't catch it.

"Bell, I'm sorry. You're grieving. You don't actually wanna be with me."

"Yeah...you're right. I guess I only came here cause Alex wouldn't let me into his room..." He mumbled.

 _Huh, I wonder why._ Spencer rolled her eyes and shook her head and stood up, bringing Bellamy with her. "Come on. You need to sleep."

"I'm not sleepy." He slurred.

Spencer ignored his mumbling and made him lay down on her bed, pulling off his shoes and covering him with a blanket. She almost laughed at how quickly he fell asleep.

"Goodnight, Bell."

~~~~~~~~~~


	35. Terms and Conditions

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

Upon waking up, Bellamy didn't know where he was. His surroundings looked similar, he knew he was in the Ark. Just not which room, and it was definitely not his.

The last thing he remembered was going to the mess hall to drink his sorrows away. He took Monroe's death pretty hard, and knowing that his own sister was partially responsible for that made him sick.

Bellamy's head ached. He probably overdid it.

He sat up and rubbed his aching temples and took in his surroundings with a clearer vision.

He almost jumped when he saw a sleeping Spencer across the room, curled up in an uncomfortable looking position on a chair.

Oh, so he was in Spencer's room.

Bellamy felt guilty when he realized he probably came to Spencer last night, most likely bothering her. He hoped he didn't bother her, but he won't know until he asked. His curiosity to know how badly he must've acted motivated him to get up and wake Spencer.

Bellamy gently rubbed her shoulder. Slowly opening her eyes, Spencer saw his face and gave a sleepy smile. "Well good morning, bar fly."

Bellamy rolled his eyes and helped Spencer sit up. "I'm sorry, Spence. I kinda overdid it last night."

Spencer snickered. "You think?"

"So, how bad was I? Hopefully I wasn't an asshole." Bellamy asked, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"No, no. You weren't. You kinda just...cried for a bit."

Bellamy sighed and looked down. "That's embarrassing."

Spencer shook her head, and the sudden movement caused a pinching kind of pain to spark through her neck. And the hiss of pain from her made Bellamy look up with concern. "I'm fine, sorry. My neck didn't really enjoy sleeping on a chair." She chuckled.

Bellamy frowned. "I'm sorry for that."

"Well, I couldn't just kick you out, Bellamy. Plus, you probably would've passed out as soon as you walked out the door."

"I would've been alright. You should've at least slept in the bed too." Spencer blushed, and Bellamy noticed. "What?"

"Oh, it's nothing." She tried to dismiss.

"No, Spence. What? Tell me."

"Well, uh," Spencer stuttered, "you kinda...kissed me last night."

Bellamy's face paled and he really wanted to be floated at that moment. It took a minute before he finally pulled himself together. "Spence, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I'm so-"

"Bell, calm down." She interrupted. "It's alright. You were drunk. I understand."

Bellamy gave her a weak smile. "Thank you. Really. Also, for taking care of me."

"Of course. You're still my friend." Spencer smiled as she leaned in to wrap her arms around the taller boy.

Bellamy closed his eyes and appreciated her comfort. "As much as I'm enjoying this, I actually have to go. Pike needs me this morning."

Spencer sighed. "Of course he does."

"Don't be like that. Pike's trusting me for an important mission."

"Oh, Yeah? And what would that mission be?"

"Confidential." He smirked.

"Come on. Really?" She whined.

"Sorry, Spence. I can't risk telling you, even though I trust you. That's just how it is." Bellamy gave a brief side hug to the annoyed girl and made his way out to meet Pike outside the Ark.

Spencer knew it was a long shot, but she had to at least try to figure out what Pike was planning.

Almost as quickly as Bellamy walked out, Alex walked in, side eyeing each other as they passed. Alex then remembered the previous night...

**~~~**

Alex was sitting at his little table, tapping his fingers and running his hands through his hair occasionally. He kept thinking about Bellamy, hoping he was okay despite him being on the wrong side with Pike.

It was so frustrating. He cared for Bellamy, but a part of him was starting to want him dead. He hated himself for thinking that way.

Alex jumped when he heard rapid knocking at his door. His eyebrows furrowed, but walked to the door. "Who is it?" He asked cautiously.

"Neil." A familiar gruff voice called out. "Open the door."

Alex sighed when he heard the slight slur in his voice, but he was relieved he was back. "Go to your dorm, Bellamy. It's late."

"Alex!" Bellamy raised his voice suddenly, making Alex flinch, but then he sighed. "Just...just let me in, please. I just...I just wanna talk, okay?"

"You're drunk, Bell. Just leave." Alex said, not attempting to hide the sadness in his voice.

Alex jumped when Bellamy started banging on the door, begging to be let into his room. He felt the tears start to prick his eyes as he heard Bellamy's desperate pleas, but he went to his bed and covered his ears.

"Alex! Alex, please, man! I just wanna talk..." Bellamy cried.

Eventually, Bellamy stopped and walked away. Alex fell asleep in a puddle of his own tears not long after.

**~~~**

"What was Bellamy doing in here?" Alex asked, failing to not sound accusatory.

"Chill out, Alex. He was drunk last night. Came to me and passed out."

Alex sighed, almost tearing up and breaking down like he did last night. "I can't chill out. Right now, Bellamy is our enemy. We can't trust him."

Spencer nodded and sighed. "You're right. We can't trust him. But he is not our enemy. Not mine."

"Well, whatever. We need to have another meeting." Spencer nodded and Alex left her room.

She sighed and rubbed her temples. She didn't want to feel guilty for keeping secrets from Bellamy, it felt like she was betraying him, but she also knew it was for the best.

Spencer shook her negative thoughts out of her head and quietly made her way to where Kane's group always met. She walked in when they were already listening in to one of Pike's meetings. "We can't engage the Grounders until we've got our own people under control, and that starts with Kane." She heard Pike say from the radio.

Alex looked to her and patted the seat next to him and Miller, inviting her to sit in between them. "The wall has ears." Pike continued. "Now, we can't afford any more assumptions about who's a friend and who isn't. Not your oldest acquaintance. Not your husband, wife, or lover. We're fighting two wars now. And the more dangerous one is here, inside this camp. We can't prove it yet. But Kane and his accomplices passed information to Octavia. The traitors in this camp sold Monroe and Lacroix to the Grounders, and they died for that. Whoever did that will be hunted down and exposed for what they did to their own, for what they did to us."

After Pike dismissed his group, Miller quickly turned off the radio. "If they're going to play that game, we need to play it too." Kane said.

"Meaning?" Harper asked.

"We don't meet here again, for starters. We change our patterns. Forget our habits. Take a different route through camp each time we go out. Assume that there are eyes on us all times."

"Or we could just shock-lash Pike's fascist behind and hand him over to the Grounders." Alex huffed.

"That would be murder. Not to mention treason. And that's not who we are." Kane said, making Alex roll his eyes.

"Maybe that's who we need to be." Miller said.

Kane looked down and lightly shook his head. "Not yet."

Spencer got tired of the talk, she just wanted to know what to do. "Okay, so, what's the plan?"

"I'm gonna talk to Pike." Kane said and grabbed his jacket, walking to the door.

Alex quickly went after him. "Kane! You can't just talk to someone insane hoping that you can change their mind! Words don't always work."

Kane gave him a weak smile and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You can always try, son. Treason is not who we are."

Alex and Spencer walked down the halls of the Ark to get to her dorm. "He's so frustrating!" Alex shouted as soon as her dorm room door closed.

"Alex, he's right you know. Plus, trying to use force on Pike would only end badly." Spencer sighed, not believing she actually sided with Kane.

Alex half heartedly chuckled. "And I thought I was supposed to be the rational one."

"You're just stressed out. When this is all over I'm sure you'll be back to your usual nauseatingly cheerful personality." She smiled.

"Let's hope."

A few hours passed and Harper passed along the note that the group was going to meet in a few minutes. On the way, Spencer passed by Bellamy in the hall. She tried to avoid him but failed miserably. "Hey, Spence." He said almost awkwardly.

"Hey, Bellamy."

"Where are you headed?"

"Oh, nowhere. I just needed to take a walk. Clear my head. Think about things." Spencer somewhat lied.

"Taking a walk." Bellamy repeated. "What're thinking about?"

Spencer sighed mentally. She couldn't afford to chit chat with Bellamy, but she also couldn't allow him to think she needed to be somewhere. "Just about life. How we're on the brink of another war. To think we landed on Earth not knowing if it was survivable or not."

"Like I said, we've been at war since we landed. That hasn't changed." Spencer nodded, trying to convince Bellamy that she wasn't against him. He sighed. "You're not...my enemy, are you?"

Spencer froze. This was her chance. "Of course not, Bell. You know I have more cause to hate the Grounders more than anyone." It was somewhat true. She did hold a grudge, but she didn't hate them. She needed Bellamy to trust her.

Bellamy nodded, seemingly approving of her answer. "Well, I've got places to be. Just know you can talk to me. Anytime. Okay?" He started to walk away but stopped, turning back to face Spencer. "Be careful, okay?"

Spencer furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?"

Bellamy bit his lip slightly, but sighed. "I gotta go."

Spencer hightailed it to Kane's meeting spot after her encounter with Bellamy, making it just in time. "Hey, where were you?" Alex tried not to shout.

"I was held up." She sighed.

"Guys. Listen to this." Harper said and pulled the headphone jack out of the radio.

"The results of this morning's munitions inventory was sobering." Pike's voice echoed through the machine. "In no way do we currently have the ammo for an extended series of firefights. Not even close. Our lookouts say the largest Grounder encampment is in this valley. So, we deploy an assault team in Rover 1. And we do as much damage as we can with automatic weapons."

"Then they'll just fall back and make a run for reinforcements." Hannah said.

"I'm counting on that. The only way there and back is over this ridge. Now we can bottleneck their warriors and pick them off."

"We got the firepower for that?" Bellamy asked.

"We won't need it. We have a dozen concussive anti-personnel devices in our armory. I've already got a weapons man rigging them with a remote trigger. We load the APDs into the rover and mine the field before we attack. After we strike, we lure their reinforcements onto the ridge. And once we have enough Grounders in the killing box-"

"We detonate. It'll buy us some time but-"

"Time's what we need. We move at dawn."

Miller was on the verge of freaking out when Kane spoke. "We need to disable that rover. If they take it out, it doesn't matter how many Grounders they kill. Ten times that number will descend on Arkadia. And no one will survive."

"You got any idea how we're gonna stop them?" Harper asked.

"I might."

Unfortunately, Kane's plan to talk to Sinclair to help the group's cause backfired. Sinclair got arrested. Or that's what Spencer thought. "Lincoln and Sinclair are gonna start a fight. A guard will go into the cell to break it up, and that's when they'll attack. It'll be a distraction and Kane will get Pike." Alex explained to her.

"Wow. So, this is really happening." Spencer said.

"Hey. Now's not the time to get cold feet, okay?"

Spencer nodded frantically and Alex and the rest of the group got into position to join in on the violence when it was time. All seemed to go swimmingly. Bellamy was the one to try and break up the fight and that got him punched in the gut.

Soon, all the locked up Grounders pushed their way out and attacked the guards. But a guard soon pushed an alarm, and Alex signaled to go. Spencer, Alex, Harper, and Miller all pooled in to help the Grounders and Sinclair.

Harper radioed Kane, signaling that the riot worked. But Alex had that gut feeling again. That something was going to go wrong. "Alex! Come on!" Spencer's voice knocked Alex out of his state, but it was too late. More and more guards came and beat everyone down, including Alex.

Spencer was held back by Harper and Miller, unable to get to her friend. "No, no! I need to help him!" She cried.

"Spencer! There's nothing we can do right now!" Miller forced the girl to look at him. "We can't help him if we're prisoners too."

"He...He can't die." Spencer sobbed.

"He won't." Harper joined. "We won't let that happen."

Meanwhile, Kane walked out of a room to face Alex. He gave him a somber look and lightly shook his head. That made Alex feel even worse when he was brought into the same room Kane was just in, to see Pike and Bellamy.

Alex was forced to sit at a table in the middle of the mostly vacant room while he watched Bellamy whisper to Pike, but the younger boy seemed upset at whatever the man's response was.

"Alex Neil. You were at the scene of the crime, which proves to me that you were also conspiring with Kane. Do you have anything to say to that?" Pike asked.

Alex glanced over at Bellamy, to see the man shaking his head. He couldn't even look Alex in the eyes, and that was telling enough.

Alex looked back over to Pike. "I say...Kane should've killed you when he had the chance."

Pike almost seemed pleased with the boy's answer. "Proving my point even more. You are hereby sentenced to death for treason, along with Kane."

After the sentencing, Bellamy went back to his dorm and immediately started brainstorming ideas about to save Kane and Alex. He didn't even have time to get out of his guard's uniform before a pissed off Spencer barged into his room without knocking.

Bellamy jumped and turned to see who rudely barged in, but only met a fist to his jaw.

"Pike sentenced Alex to death?! What the fuck, Bellamy?!" Spencer yelled.

Bellamy put his hands up to try and calm the girl would not stop. "You're supposed to be Alex's friend! You should've stopped Pike! What the hell is wrong with you?!" She kept shouted and started to throw her fists at him without any coordination.

Bellamy easily blocked her punches and backed away until he hit the wall. "Spencer!" He tried to get her to calm down, but it obviously wasn't working. So, next best thing he could do was put her in a hold.

Spencer fought and tried to wiggle out of his grip, but Bellamy slowly lowered themselves to the floor, making his hold on her more secure. "Spence, please." He said softly. "Calm down."

It took a few minutes before Spencer could even begin to calm down. She was so angry. Sad. Terrified. She already lost a friend, and she almost didn't come back from that pain. She couldn't bare to lose another person she cared about.

All those thoughts turned her rage into pure fear and sadness. Soon, Spencer turned into a slump of tears and trembling. But Bellamy didn't let up his hold on her, not because he was afraid she'd start punching him again, but because he felt he needed to comfort her.

The two former delinquents stayed in each other hold on the floor, Bellamy still trying to calm Spencer. Whispering sweet nothing's in her ear. To his surprise, it seemed to work and Spencer's tears stopped.

Bellamy quickly explained the situation to Spencer before she could get worked up again. "Alex and Kane are not gonna die. I'm not siding with Pike anymore. I understand now, and I am so so sorry, Spence."

"I really wished you had realized that sooner." Spencer chuckled weakly and choked back a sob.

"I know. You have every right to hate me. I'm starting to hate myself too." Bellamy teared up.

Spencer gently grabbed Bellamy's hand. "I don't hate you, Bell. Pissed off? Yeah, absolutely. But I don't hate you."

Bellamy felt a little better, but still felt the self hatred. "Alex hates me."

"Alex doesn't hate anybody. He's incapable."

"He's never gonna trust me again." Bellamy let a couple tears fall.

Spencer sighed. "We don't have time for this right now. We need to come up with a plan."

Bellamy nodded. "You're right."

"Let's get started then."

~~~~~~~~~~


	36. Stealing Fire

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

**Bold = Trigedasleng**

~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay, Alex, have you ever spared with anyone before?" Lincoln asked.

Alex nervously glanced over to Bellamy who was on the other side of the room watching, then looked back to Lincoln. "Uh. On the Ark, I was training to be a guard. I spared a few times but…it's been awhile."

"Why weren't you ever a guard?" Bellamy questioned.

"Well, they kinda let me go after what happened with Spencer.…they didn't think it was safe for me to become a guard since I was associated with her." Alex nervously chuckled.

Bellamy rolled his eyes. "Of course they did."

Lincoln clapped his hands a couple times and got Alex's attention back. "Okay. Let's try this. Come at me, don't hold back."

"Oh, uh, are you sure man?"

Lincoln only gave Alex an unimpressed stare at a response.

Alex sighed and shook his head, hyping himself up before he ran full force at Lincoln. The Grounder quickly dodged and tripped the boy's leg, making him ungracfully hit the floor.

"Ow." Alex wheezed.

"That's exactly what happened the first time I spared with Lincoln." Bellamy laughed loudly, but they quickly ceased when Alex gave him a murderous glare. "Ahem, sorry." He coughed.

"And also like Bellamy, you were being too aggressive. I predicted what you were going to do as soon as you made the first step." Lincoln reached out to Alex, pulling him up from the ground.

"So, let's go again."

After about over an hour of constantly beating Alex and knocking him on his ass, it was decided that they should take a break.

"Neil. We're going a run today. Wanna go this time?" Bellamy asked, putting on his guard jacket.

"Oh, uh, nah. I'm alright. I'm a bit tired after training."

"Understood. I think I slept a whole 8 hours after training with Lincoln for the first time. You'll get more stamina. Promise." Bellamy smiled.

Alex quickly nodded and looked down, watching Bellamy's shadow leave the room. "You should tell him how you feel." Lincoln voiced startled him.

"Excuse me? What're you talking about?" Alex stuttered.

Lincoln shook his head and smiled. "Nevermind."

Alex ignored the sudden throbbing in his chest and went up to Lincoln. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask you…I've always found you're language fascinating. I was wondering if you could teach me how to speak Trig?"

Lincoln turned to Alex and smiled. "Really?"

Alex nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure. Octavia and I will teach you."

Alex refrained from jumping up and down with excitement and just settled for giving him a giant smile.

"That doesn't mean you get to stop training with me."

And the smile went away.

**~~~**

Alex didn't know why that memory came to him, at a time like this. He was so disappointed in himself. He couldn't believe he let himself get caught. Then get a death sentence by Pike of all people.

Alex was also pissed off, and sad. _Bellamy didn't even try to help me…_ He sighed.

He didn't know what hurt worse: knowing that he was going to die, or that Bellamy betrayed him. He was leaning towards the latter. He also felt like he let Spencer down.

Alex shook his head. _No. I can't die. We can't die._

He looked over to Sinclair and Kane, who looked almost as depressed as he did. "How did we get here?" He mumbled to himself.

"Chancellor on deck!"

The authoritative voice echoing through the halls caused Kane to stand up, previously being sat next to Lincoln, and walked to face the dictator.

"I'm not here for you." Pike said to Kane then turned to the rest of the Grounders who were also prisoners. "Each of you is guilty of the same crimes as Kane and as such, you will share the same fate, death."

" **What is he saying?** " A Grounder girl asked.

" **Don't worry.** " Lincoln quickly answered and walked up to Pike. "My people are innocent. They know nothing. Don't let them suffer for my crimes. Please."

"Sir, Lincoln's right." Bellamy voiced, making Alex wear a confused expression on his face. "All the others did was run through an open door. Same thing we would do if we were in there."

Alex wanted to laugh. _Didn't Bellamy just try to kill more innocent Grounders less than 48 hours ago? Why does he care now?_

"I believe that's true." Pike agreed. "Kane, Lincoln, Sinclair, Alex, as the leaders of this coup, you will pay for your crimes with your lives. Execution is set for dawn."

As if it couldn't get any worse. Alex what he was risking, but he didn't expect Lincoln or Sinclair to be punished. _If only Kane had killed Pike before he was captured_ , Alex sighed.

"I'm sorry, Spencer."

● ● ●

Spencer waited for Bellamy in her dorm. He was going to take out the bug that was planted in Miller's jacket, and that information managed to get Bellamy another slap in the face.

Bellamy was going to try and convince Miller and Harper to devise a plan to help everyone escape, but Spencer had a feeling it didn't go to well when he came back with a sour look on his face.

Bellamy sighed when he saw the look on Spencer's face. "They didn't trust me, or Monty."

"Huh, I wonder why?" Spencer glared.

"Shut up, Spencer." She scoffed. "Pack a bag, quick. We're gonna meet Octavia at the dropship." He said, already packing a light bag.

"What makes you think she'll be there?"

"She loves Lincoln."

Spencer shrugged. "Hard to argue with that."

The walk to the dropship was an awkward one. But strangely nostalgic, and sad. Seeing the big heap of metal again…wasn't that pleasant for both delinquents. But thankfully, the couple heard the beats of a horse getting closer.

"Probably should expect a punch to the face, knowing Octavia." Spencer smirked.

Bellamy rolled his eyes and motioned for both of them to walk out of the tree line when Octavia came through the disheveled gates. "Glad you came."

Octavia gave a suspicious glare to Bellamy and Spencer and looked around. "We're alone, O. We're here to help." Bellamy reassured.

When it looked like Octavia was going in for a hug, she injected Bellamy in the neck and he immediately passed out. "Sleep well, big brother." She then turned to Spencer. "Do I gotta tranq you too?"

Spencer was shocked at first, not liking her friend going down like that, but she did not want to be on Octavia's bad side. "No. You probably need some help carrying him, am I right?"

Octavia gave a little smile.

Getting Bellamy to fit on Octavia's horse, along with Spencer, proved to be a little difficult. But they made it work, somehow.

"Where are we?" Spencer asked as Octavia got off her horse.

"This is where Indra's been staying." Octavia said, tying up her horse.

Spencer gulped. "Indra?" She stuttered.

Octavia quickly took notice of Spencer's hesitation and put her hand on the frightened girl's shoulder. "Hey. Indra isn't a threat. She won't hurt you again. I promise." Spencer nodded and sighed. "Okay, now help me get Bellamy."

"Why are you here?" Indra asked, holding her sword tightly.

Octavia explained the situation to Indra, all the while the Grounder warrior kept glaring at Spencer. Soon, Bellamy started waking up. "It was a mistake bringing him here." Indra said.

"He was out the whole way. And we searched him for bugs." Octavia said.

"You think I'd let them hurt you?" Bellamy asked.

"Shut your mouth." Indra seethed.

"Indra, we talked about this." Octavia placed her hand on Indra's.

"You waste time. You should be in their camp by now."

"No, it's suicide. Pike will be expecting you. You won't get close. I can. We can save them, but we have to work together." Bellamy pleaded.

"You're the reason they need saving." Octavia glared.

"Maybe. But that doesn't change the fact that you need me."

Octavia shook her head. "For the first time in my life, that's not true."

Spencer walked up to Octavia and pulled her aside. "You know, as much I hate to say this but, I think Bellamy's right." Octavia glared at her but Spencer continued before she could interrupt. "Bellamy is Pike's right hand man. He has his trust. He can-"

"No!" Octavia whispered. "No. Bellamy can't be trusted."

"Okay..." Spencer agreed reluctantly. "At least let me go with you to help Alex."

Octavia sighed. "No. I'm gonna go alone."

Spencer felt the slight feeling of angry boil in her veins. "But O, I can help."

"I said no." Octavia snapped then sighed. "I'm sorry, Spencer. Indra!" Octavia called out. "Don't let Spencer leave."

Before she knew it, Indra was dragging Spencer next to Bellamy and chaining her. "No, no, Octavia! Wait. I can help."

"I'm sorry, Spence. I can't let you drag me down if you slip up." She said and walked out of the cave, leaving the three alone.

Bellamy sighed. "I'm sorry, Spence. You should've stayed at Arkadia."

Spencer wanted to agree, but thought it wouldn't be appropriate to joke around at a time like that. "Octavia will be fine. She's smart."

Bellamy huffed. "Indra. Please. She has no idea what she's facing in there. Pike has tripled his security. There's surveillance every where. He'll see her coming."

"Good. We're counting on that." Indra said.

Bellamy stood up, frustrated. "He still trusts me. If anything goes wrong, we can use that."

Indra suddenly stood up and walked to Bellamy. "I saw where you earned that trust. On the battlefield, where you massacred my brothers and sisters."

"Should I have let Pike kill you?"

"Why didn't you?"

"The same reason you haven't used that sword on me."

"Octavia." Indra answered.

"We are running out of time. Cut me loose. She could die in there." Bellamy begged.

"Then Octavia kom Skaikru will earn the warrior's death you denied me."

Bellamy growled and started pulling at his chains. "Bellamy!" Spencer yelled. "That's not gonna help anything."

"I can't lose her! She needs my help!"

Spencer gave up trying to stop Bellamy after a few minutes. Instead she chose to sit as far away from him as she could, which happened to be close to Indra.

"Your friend is a nuisance."

Spencer held in a chuckle at Indra's insult. "Yeah, he can be." She said. "Look, Indra. I'm not with Pike. I promise. He's planning on killing my best friend."

"Quiet. You're lucky I didn't kill you as soon as you came in with Octavia."

Spencer paled, but decided to push her luck. "Why didn't you?"

"You're Octavia's friend, and I unfortunately owe you for the time when Gustas framed you."

"That seemed so long ago now." Spencer grimaced at the memory, but quickly tried to shut off the memory of the pain from it. "Indra. I don't blame you. You were just protecting your Commander."

"I would've killed you back then too."

"Do you still want to kill me?" Spencer almost stuttered.

Indra turned to look at Spencer. "You're strong. Like Octavia. You handled the cutting well. I heard about when you were first interrogated by our people. You didn't break. I don't trust you, but you have my respect."

Spencer didn't expect to feel so happy about earning the respect of a Grounder, yet she did. She gave Indra a slight smile and sat back against the cave wall.

● ● ●

Alex watched as Kane traced his coalition branding mark on his arm. _If only things would've worked out…_

"It could've worked." Lincoln voiced.

"Death can be an act of unity, too. We don't break. We don't show fear. The people will remember." Kane said and turned to Alex. "I'm sorry, son."

Alex's eyebrows furrowed. "What? Why?"

"I never wanted this to happen. I didn't want you to be caught up in this too."

Alex shook his head. "I would've done it again, sir." Kane smiled.

"Chancellor on deck!"

"It's time." Pike's voice echoed.

Alex's heart started beating rapidly. He had never felt so scared. Maybe it's cause he knew he was going to die. All the other times, there was always a glimmer of hope. Some chance that Clarke and Bellamy would save the day like they always do.

But Clarke wasn't there. Bellamy is on Pike's side. He had no idea if Spencer was caught, or Miller and Harper.

"Against the wall. Now. Come on."

Soon, a few guards went up to the four men and bound their hands and feet. Then they were being transported through the halls.

Then that glimmer of hope Alex was desperate for finally appeared in the form of Harper. He tried not to smile when she gave him and Kane a nod.

Suddenly, Pike put the prisoners on their knees. And talked into his radio. "Sir, we can already assume her friends have already told her where we're taking them." Bryan said to Pike. "We shouldn't go any further till we know the route's secure."

"Okay, put them in there." Pike motioned to a door.

The guards quickly pushed the four prisoners into a room with a bunch of bunk beds.

Alex sighed and sat on one of the beds, but only to spring up when Octavia suddenly popped out of the floor. "Come on!" She whisper yelled.

The four men all quickly followed the girl under the floor and soon came out once she gave the all clear. "It's a little tight in there." Kane said, straightening out his back.

"Try it for 16 years." Octavia said, while cutting all their bonds loose. "Spencer's with Bellamy." She told Alex.

"What?" He tried not to yell.

"Don't worry. She's safe."

"No, why the hell is she with Bellamy?" Alex didn't get his question answered because Harper suddenly started talking through the radio.

"Go ahead." Octavia said.

"Stay where you are." Harper whispered. "Repeat. Stay where you are. The exit is not clear."

"How many guards?"

"Too many. I said stay put."

"Calling all guards." Monty's voice suddenly echoed on the radio. "The prisoners are headed for the main gate. The prisoners are headed for the main gate. Over."

"That was Monty." Octavia smiled.

"Guess he's with us after all." Miller said.

They all quickly headed out of the room now that the exit was secure. Alex couldn't help himself and hugged Harper once they met at the exit. "Thank you, Harper." He smiled, making her blush slightly.

"Come on, guys. Hurry."

"Attention all citizens. Emergency lockdown is in effect. Return to your quarters immediately." The PA system sounded loudly.

Octavia and Alex kept watch while everyone else hurried through the exit in the wall. Then they heard Pike's voice through the radio. "I have a message for the traitors in this camp. There will be an execution today. Either turn yourselves in or the other Grounder prisoners will die in your place."

Alex frowned. Octavia quickly tried to get Lincoln through the exit, but he wouldn't budge. "I can't let them die because of me." Lincoln said.

"Lincoln, no. We're almost home free." Alex begged.

"I know what you're feeling, but they're searching the station. We need to go, now." Kane ordered.

"You should." Lincoln said.

"Fine." Octavia said. "I'm going with you. **We fight together.** "

Lincoln teared up and nodded. "I love you." He kissed her, but quickly injected her.

"Lincoln!" Alex whispered.

"What are you doing?" Kane voiced.

"Same thing you'd do for your people. Just get her out of here." Lincoln handed a passed out Octavia to Kane.

"Lincoln, please." Alex pleaded.

Lincoln only smiled and hugged Alex. " **Keep practicing, young Neil.** "

Alex felt a single tear slip down his cheek and reluctantly let go of Lincoln. " **Stay strong**."

"You too."

And with that last sentence, Lincoln turned around and left the room. Giving himself up for his people.

Alex tried his hardest not to burst into tears as the escaped prisoners and "traitors" walked farther away from Arkadia, where Lincoln still was and will be executed soon. He was thankful that Octavia was still passed out.

Not for long though.

She soon woke up on her horse and quickly but shakily dismounted it. "Lincoln…" She wheezed.

Kane and Alex quickly held her upright and to stop her from trying to go back to Arkadia. "No…"

From the hill, they could see Lincoln being brought out by guards. He slowly lowered himself to his knees. He looked up towards the hill, almost like he could feel they were there.

Pike shot Lincoln in the head, crushing Octavia's soul.

~~~~~~~~~~


	37. Fallen

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

To Spencer's surprise, Indra softened up to her. Well, in her own way. But her almost relaxed nature shattered when they all heard a horn and red smoke rising from Polis.

Apparently Lexa was dead and there was a new Commander.

Indra immediately left Spencer and Bellamy, leaving for Polis to find out what happened while she was gone.

"Spence, can you get these chains off me please?" Bellamy sighed.

Spencer grinned and shook her head. Indra had unchained her, but not Bellamy. Frankly, she didn't trust the man that shot and killed her Trikru family.

"Wish I could. But I'd rather have Octavia and Indra's trust."

And almost right on cue, the two heard footsteps approaching them. First Miller and Harper, then Bryan, Sinclair, Kane, Alex, and Octavia.

Spencer's heart dropped when she saw the grim looks on their faces, specifically Alex and Octavia's.

"Where's Lincoln?" Bellamy asked.

Octavia sighed. "Pike put a bullet in his brain."

Spencer gasped and looked to Alex, who nodded with tears brimming his eyes.

She quickly wrapped her friend in a tight hug, not hearing Bellamy's apology but only hearing when Octavia threw her first of many punches at her brother.

The punch echoed throughout the entire cave and got everyone's attention. Bellamy just looked at his sister in shock.

But that one punch wasn't enough for Octavia. She punched him again and again. "Octavia, that's enough." Kane finally spoke up.

"Kane," Bellamy called out, "stay out of this."

Octavia continued to beat her own brother. Releasing all of her rage, sadness, and pain onto him.

This was the first time in Spencer's life where she forced herself to not intervene. She hated that Bellamy was being beaten, but she knew his pain was nothing compared to what Octavia was feeling.

Most of the group turned away, not wanting to see the violence. But Miller tried to intervene, but only making Octavia shove him away and Bellamy telling him to back off through his bloodied mouth and wheezing breaths.

Alex just watched. He cared for Bellamy. So, why did he feel satisfied watching him bleed?

"You're dead to me." Was Octavia's last words to Bellamy before she stopped beating him.

Once Spencer heard that the punching stopped, she hesitantly turned to look at a very bloodied Bellamy. Her heart clenched when she saw the expression on his face. He looked broken.

Spencer then turned to look at Alex. His eyes were red and puffy. He had been crying. No, sobbing.

Alex hadn't realized how much he cared about Lincoln till he saw Pike execute him.

Alex suddenly wondered if what he was feeling is how his best friend felt when she saw Finn killed. He wasn't planning on asking.

The group decided to sit and discuss their plans away from Bellamy, making him feel even more isolated. Spencer noticed his face was still bloody from his beating, Miller noticed too. She watched as Miller got a wet rag and tried to clean up Bellamy's face.

She sighed as Bellamy kept trying to push his friend away, not feeling like he deserved such kind treatment.

Eventually, Spencer got tired of seeing Bellamy act like a child who didn't want to be bathed and stood up from her seat next to Alex and demanded for Miller to hand her the wet cloth.

From the look on Spencer's face, Miller knew she was a women on a mission. He tried to hide a smirk as he handed her the cloth, finding it amusing that this was all over trying to clean Bellamy. Almost immediately resisting to slap himself because of how inappropriate his amusement was.

Miller left as Spencer got on her knees to be on the same level with Bellamy.

Spencer raised her arm up to his face, Bellamy instinctively tilting his head away from her. "Bellamy." Her authoritative tone of voice was enough to make him give up and just let her clean the blood off his face.

Bellamy hissed as the cloth made contact with his beaten face, Spencer immediately letting out a quiet apology. He sighed through his nose and shook his head. "You shouldn't be sorry. I deserved this." He frowned.

Spencer didn't know what to say. She couldn't agree, that would be cruel. But she couldn't disagree, she'd be lying.

"I know you didn't want Lincoln to die." She almost whispered. "He was your friend."

"I betrayed him…" Bellamy teared up.

"Yes…" He looked back up at Spencer. "But you're here now. Trying to make amends."

"Yeah, look how well that turned out." Bellamy said, making Spencer let out a little chuckle which in turn made Bellamy smile.

"Spencer." Alex called out after she was finished washing away the blood from Bellamy's face.

Alex brought his friend over to the other side of the cave so they could talk in private. "What the hell are you doing?" He tried not to yell.

Spencer was confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Why are you being all buddy buddy with the enemy?"

Spencer almost laughed. "Enemy? I was talking to my friend. Our friend."

Alex shook his head. "No. He's not our friend anymore. He's with Pike. He got Lincoln killed. He's our enemy."

"Alex. He's not with Pike anymore. He knows he made mistakes now. He never wanted him to die, you must know that."

Alex thought he could almost see red. He had never felt so much anger towards his friend. _She must be delusional. Yeah, that's it. Delusional. Or in denial._

"Look, I know you cared about him. He never deserved what happened to him. But think about what he would want. Do you really think Lincoln would want us to turn on each other?"

That was it.

"Shut the fuck up!" Spencer was taken aback by how loud Alex yelled, even everybody else in the cave heard him.

"You don't know what he would want! You didn't know him! You never took the time to get to know him! All that time you were with that Murphy guy, who's an asshole and abandoned you, doing God knows what!"

Alex didn't know what he was doing. He was never this way. So angry. It wasn't even about Lincoln anymore at this point.

"You left me. Your best friend, who you've known for years for some guy who you only knew for a month! Do you know how much that hurt me? It hurt. A whole fucking lot. You know, when I came down here, I thought we were gonna go back to the way things were up in space. We were so close! And now, I feel like I don't even know who you are!"

"Alex…" Spencer cried.

"I…I feel used. Like you were just using me until someone better came along. I was never your first choice. It was Finn. It was always Finn. Now it's always Murphy."

"That's not fair." She sobbed.

"Oh, yeah? It wasn't fucking fair for you to use me when you couldn't have your first choice."

"I never used you!" Spencer yelled in disbelief, that he would actually excuse her of that. "In the beginning, I'll admit, you were helping me get over Finn. But then I grew to really care about you. That never changed, even when Murphy came along."

Spencer reached out and grabbed Alex's hand and forced him to look at her. "I care about you, Alex. You are my best friend and I would never use you. After Finn died, I didn't know what to do. All I know is I couldn't bare to stay at Camp Jaha, Arkadia, until I recovered from his death. Among other things."

Alex smiled a little when she refrained from saying she couldn't stay after killing her father, but let her continue.

"I never wanted you feel like you were used. Cause you never were. I'm so sorry that I made you feel that way. It couldn't be further than the truth."

"I'm sorry for raising my voice...and swearing so much." Alex sniffled.

Spencer chuckled and hugged her friend.

"I don't know about you but I feel kinda embarrassed now that I've realized everyone probably heard our argument." Alex blushed.

Spencer cringed and hid her face against Alex's chest. "Thanks for mentioning it, bud."

The aftermath of their argument was awkward enough, but then they had to go back and sit with their group after. That was even more awkward. Everyone could see it on their blushing faces.

Normally, the younger ones of the group would tease them and make them feel even more uncomfortable, but the dire situation they were in forced them to save the teasing for later.

"I say, we run two-man patrols, round the clock, starting now." Bryan suggested.

"We'll do that, but we should be safe here." Kane said. "The Grounder blockade's too close for Pike to risk looking for us."

"Yeah, but are we even safe from the blockade?" Alex asked.

"As long as we stay on this side of the line, we should be." Kane answered. Alex nodded.

"They're Grounders, you really think they're gonna play by the rules?" Bryan asked, making Alex roll his eyes.

"Hey, Pike will want you dead now, too." Miller told Bryan. "We take him out, we can go home."

"We take him out, then the Grounders lift the blockade." Harper said.

Kane nodded. "That's right. We become the 13th clan, again. Those were the terms."

"Yeah, Lexa's terms. If what Bellamy and Spencer says is true and she's dead, how do we know the next commander will honor them?" Sinclair voiced.

"One problem at a time."

"Wait, what about Clarke? With Lexa gone, she's not safe at Polis." Alex asked.

"Clarke made her choice." Octavia snapped. "The only thing that matters now is killing Pike."

"Octavia's right." Kane said. "Once we resume our place in the Commander's coalition, Clarke will be safe. So, how do we do it?"

"Bellamy, come in." The group heard come from the radio. "It's Monty, I'm in trouble. Please say you still have your radio."

"If we respond and Pike's listening-"

"Go to Channel 7." Bellamy interrupted Sinclair. "Please say you still have your radio. That's seven words after the word trouble. It's code, go to seven."

After some silent deliberation, Kane gave Sinclair a nod telling him it was okay. "Monty, it's Kane." He said into the radio. "What's wrong?"

"Pike knows that I helped you get out." Monty answered.

"Can you get to the dropship?"

"I think so."

"Good. Go there, I'll bring you in. Stay off the radio. Over and out."

"Hold on, what if it's a trap? What if Pike's just waiting for us?" Alex asked.

"That's why I'm going alone." Kane stood up.

"Like hell you are." Octavia said.

"Yeah, I'm with Octavia." Alex said. Miller and everyone else agreeing. "We're going too."

"No, you're not. If it is a trap, I'm not marching our entire insurgency into it." Kane said.

"To stop me, you're gonna have to kill me." Octavia said, putting on her jacket.

"She hopes it's a trap." Bellamy said.

Octavia looked back at her brother. "He's coming too. We'll need a hostage to trade for Monty."

Spencer did not like that idea.

"That's a good plan." Kane said, making Spencer scoff. "He stays chained, gag him."

"What? Kane no-"

"Would you like to join him, Ms. Rolfe?" Kane interrupted her.

"Sir, with all due respect-"

"He's the enemy." Kane interrupted Miller. "Now do what I said."

To everyone's surprise, Alex was the first one to obey Kane's orders. Miller went over to help him.

Alex quickly, and not so gently, cuffed Bellamy's hands, making sure the cuffs were tight. Bellamy felt his heart involuntarily clench when Alex looked at him with so much pain and anger in his eyes.

"Alex…"

Before Bellamy could get one more word out, Alex gagged him, not wanting to hear anything he had to say.

Spencer sighed and looked into Bellamy's eyes. _I never wanted this to happen…_

~~~~~~~~~~


	38. Nevermore

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

Warning: Talk of parental abuse and trauma.

~~~~~~~~~~

After Kane and Octavia left with Bellamy, the rest of the group was left in the cave anxiously waiting for them to return, or for Pike to possibly find them if it actually was a trap.

Spencer noticed that Alex sat by himself against the wall of the cave, near where Bellamy used to be chained up.

"You okay?" Spencer asked when she walked up to Alex.

Alex sighed.

Spencer took that as a sign that he wasn't and carefully sat next to him. "What's wrong?"

Alex looked down and rubbed his hands together before answering. "I just…" He paused. "I feel so much anger."

"For Bellamy?" Alex stayed silent, and Spencer nodded. "I think…I think it's kinda understandable. I'm angry at him too."

"No you…you've already forgiven him. I don't know if I can…"

Spencer sighed. "When they come back with Monty-"

"If."

"Maybe it'll help you see that he's trying to make amends."

Alex rolled his eyes. "I doubt it."

"I guess we'll see then."

"How does someone come back from massacring hundreds on innocent people?" Alex whispered.

And a couple hours later, Bellamy, Octavia, and Kane returned with Monty. They were informed it was a trap, but Bellamy got Pike delivered to the Grounders surprisingly.

"You're not gonna chain him back up?" Alex asked about Bellamy once everyone was in the cave.

"There's no need. He's proved his loyalty to us." Kane said.

Alex scoffed. "Like that's gonna last." He mumbled, but loud enough so Bellamy could hear it.

Bellamy frowned. Seeing a close friend of his not trust him and downright hate him…it hurt. It really hurt. Almost everyone he cares about despised him, and it was all his fault.

Deep down, Bellamy knew it would take a miracle to get his sister back on his side. But he thought back to what Spencer said, that Alex was incapable of hating someone.

Bellamy wanted to find out if that was true.

Alex started to feel panicked when he saw Bellamy start to approach him. He wanted to run, but they were in a cave. There was no where to run…

"Go away, Bellamy." Alex hissed.

"Alex, please…" Bellamy pleaded. "Just let me talk to you."

"I don't wanna hear what you have to say."

"I just…" Bellamy whispered. "I just want to say that I'm sorry."

Alex scoffed loudly. "Sorry? For what? Siding with Pike? Killing 300 Grounders? Getting Lincoln killed? Shall I list the others reasons?"

Bellamy started to tear up. "I never wanted him to die…"

"You knew Pike hated Grounders. Lincoln was a Grounder. Bellamy, you should have known better!"

Bellamy flinched when Alex raised his voice. "I know…and I'm so sorry."

Alex shook his head and wiped away some stray tears from his face. "Thank you, for doing the right thing and handing Pike over to the Grounders. But it's gonna take a lot more than sorry to fix what you did."

Bellamy only nodded. "Just…please say you don't hate me, Alex. Please."

Alex sighed. "I…I hate what you did."

Bellamy's bottom lip trembled as he watched Alex distance himself away from him. _I still feel like he hates me…_

"Are you okay, Bell?" Bellamy turned to see Spencer, her hand already placing a warm hand on his shoulder. "I'm guessing you didn't make up like you hoped?"

He only shook his head.

Spencer sighed. "I'm sorry."

"It's what I deserve…"

Spencer didn't even have time to reassure Bellamy before he left and went to sit with the others. She looked over to see Alex putting his rifle's strap over his shoulder. "Where are you going?"

"It's my turn to keep watch." He said monotone.

Spencer sighed and noticed that Bellamy watched Alex walk outside the cave with a frown.

The group inside the cave suddenly heard radio static, soon a voice travelled through. Jasper's voice. The message was along the lines of that Jaha had turned everyone over to Alie, everyone was chipped, even Raven. He and Clarke were heading to the cave.

Spencer had to sit down and take a breath to comprehend it all. She knew Alie was dangerous, but just thought the whole swallowing a chip idea would turn everyone away. But it didn't. "I didn't think this would happen…" Spencer voiced to herself.

"What do you mean?" Monty asked, putting everyone's attention on her.

"I didn't think Alie would force everyone to take the chip. When I was with Jaha, she never threatened me to take it. Guess she's getting desperate."

"Are you seriously saying that this whole thing is real?" Octavia scoffed.

"Yes, it is. I've seen it."

"You've seen the City of Light?"

"Well, no…I don't exactly understand it. It's just something about those chips…"

"That's what I thought." Octavia said and started packing up her things.

"O, you can't just leave. You heard what Jasper said, Arkadia isn't safe." Bellamy said.

"What Jasper said sounds insane. Pike's gone. I can handle myself. Grounders burn their dead."

"I know that. Then what? Where are you gonna go?"

"You don't get to ask me that." Octavia snapped.

"What do I have to do to to prove that I'm on your side?"

"Bring Lincoln back." Octavia said, leaving him speechless and started to walk away. "Turning Pike in does not make you one of the good guys, Bellamy. You did that to save me. Not because what you thought Pike was doing to the Grounders was wrong."

"The Grounders were starving us out."

"Because you massacred an army that was sent to protect us."

"That army could've attacked us at any time and you know it." Bellamy tried to say.

"But they didn't attack, you did that." Octavia seethed. "You were hurting, and you lashed out cause that's what you do. But there are consequences, Bell. People get hurt. People die, your people. Monroe is dead. Lincoln is dead."

Spencer stepped up to Octavia and put a hand on her shoulder. "He gets it, O…"

Octavia sighed and shook off Spencer's hand and headed outside the cave.

Spencer placed a hand on Bellamy's chest when he started to go after her. "She needs time, Bellamy."

"I can't let her go to Arkadia, Spence." Bellamy pushed her aside.

"They're here!" The group heard Miller call out.

Spencer quickly went outside to see a rover pull up outside the cave's entrance, Clarke and Jasper hopping out of the rover.

Spencer didn't expect to smile when she saw Clarke, she looked good considering everything that had been going on. It had been so long that she forgave everything that Clarke did, even killing Finn. No matter how many times she told herself that it had to be done, there was still some deep seated resentment for that. But thankfully, the months spent away healed that specific wound.

Spencer saw Alex smile slightly. It was more expected of him since he knew her more than Spencer did.

"Need your help!" Jasper suddenly called out, he came from around the rover carrying an unconscious Raven. "We have to get her inside before she wakes up!"

"Were you followed?" Bellamy asked.

"Uh, maybe. I don't know."

Bellamy quickly took Raven in his arms and carried her into the cave, Clarke telling Sinclair to clear some space. "What the hell happened to her?" He asked.

"Jasper told you already. Raven ate that damn chip and got freaking brainwashed." Spencer snapped, not meaning to. She was so frustrated. She should've seen this coming.

"Jaha's been chipping everyone." Jasper said.

"I knew I should've killed him when I had the chance. Fuck!"

"Yeah, that probably would've solved everything." Jasper said sarcastically.

"Jasper's right. I've seen it with my own eyes." Clarke said.

"I don't need your help, alright?" Jasper snapped at Clarke.

"Just take it easy, okay? Explain." Bellamy told Jasper.

"Jaha is using the chips to control everyone. You swallow it and it changes you. You forget who you are, and then you see this thing, Alie. Only, she's not really there. She made Raven slit her own wrists. She was trying to get it out of her head."

Bellamy turned to Spencer. "You said you've seen Alie, right?"

Spencer only nodded, she couldn't make herself say anything, still processing everything that Jasper had said. She had no idea Alie could actually turn people into her personal slaves. Thank god she didn't take the chip all those months ago.

"How the hell have you seen her?" Jasper suddenly yelled and stormed over to her, making Spencer stand up and push up against the cave wall. "Did you take the damn chip?!"

"Jasper! Jasper, back off!" Bellamy pushed him away, then turned back to the now startled girl. "Answer him."

"No! No, I didn't take the chip!"

"Then how have you seen her?"

"When I went with Jaha to search for the City of Light, there was this mansion. Alie, she was a hologram. So, I didn't need to take the chip to see her." Bellamy nodded but Jasper still kept his glare on her.

"People who take the chip can't feel pain…" Jasper said, making Spencer's eyes widen.

"Hold on, Jasper. I believe Spencer." Bellamy said.

"Of course you do."

Suddenly, Spencer felt a stinging pain in her shoulder. She cried out and felt where the pain was. She turned to see Octavia with her knife out, she only made a small cut but it still hurt. "Looks like she can feel pain." Octavia put her knife away.

Spencer huffed. "Thanks…" She said begrudgingly, rolling her eyes.

Jasper had a hint of amusement in his eyes, which caused Spencer to glare at him. "I was trying to help Raven but-"

"Okay, so let's help her now!" Sinclair interrupted. "Did she say how?"

"She was working on building something. She needed one of her old wristbands but Jaha destroyed all of them."

"Wait a second." Clarke suddenly voiced, and pulled out some sort of container and taking out a rectangular shape. "Does it look like this?"

Spencer's blood turned ice cold. The symbol. It was the same one on the chip. "Not exactly." Jasper spoke.

"The symbol." Spencer voiced. "It's-"

Suddenly, Raven got up and tried to run out of the cave, punching Jasper in the face. Everyone quickly ran after her, Harper, Miller, and Alex quickly holding on to her. But Raven was surprisingly strong.

Everyone tried to get a hold of the struggling girl, Spencer getting an elbow to the neck a couple times making her cough violently. "If Raven finds out where we are, so will Alie. She'll come for her." Jasper said, quickly knocking Raven out. "Reaper stick. Last dose."

"We have to go." Clarke said.

"Why? Alie doesn't know where we are." Bellamy asked, confused.

"Because I know where we can get a wristband."

Everyone hopped in the rover, not before putting a cover over Raven's eyes. Spencer sat next to Alex, who had a blank stare on his face. He didn't look too good.

Soon, Monty pulled up to a little building. Alex recognized where they were. The place was that Niylah woman lived. "I'll talk to her." Clarke said.

"I'll go with you." Bellamy said, making Alex laugh bitterly. "What?"

"Just keep your finger off the trigger, Blake." Alex said, making Spencer elbow him in the side.

Bellamy rolled his eyes and got out the back of the rover with Clarke, quickly walking over to the Grounder. But they didn't have the time, Raven started to stir, making everyone hop out of the rover. "She's waking up. Hurry! Let's get her inside!" Sinclair shouted.

Everyone walked up to the the trio as soon as Bellamy put his rifle up. "We haven't got time for this. Move!"

"Bellamy!" Alex called out and tried to storm up to him, but Spencer stopped him.

Eventually, the female Grounder moved aside and everyone scrambled to get Raven inside. "I told you, my mom was here. If she was chipped, Alie would know." Monty said.

"That's why we're putting her in the back, through there." Clarke directed, Sinclair quickly speed walking through the the building with everyone else following behind.

Spencer helped Clarke grab some rope that was laying around and quickly went to Raven. "Tie her to the bed." Clarke handed over the rope to Jasper on the other side of the bed.

Raven's cover quickly came off while she was trying to fight everyone off. "Where the hell am I?" She yelled.

Everyone fought against Raven and she kicked and screamed, trying to get away. Punching Jasper. "Why is it always me?!" He yelled.

"Raven, stop fighting!" Spencer shouted.

Thankfully, everyone worked together to tie Raven to the bed. But that didn't stop her from trying to fight. Clarke sighed in exhaustion. "Spencer, Alex, Jasper, watch over her please." Bellamy said.

Jasper sighed and leaned himself on the wall once Raven finally settled down a little. Alex and Spencer stood next to each other, feeling pity for the poor Raven. "Did you ever want to take the chip? When you were at the mansion?" Alex whispered to Spencer.

"Yeah…" Spencer mumbled. "I was at a really low point. I just wanted to feel something else other than loneliness and pain…but, I'm glad I didn't. Seeing Raven like this…it hurts. I don't want to be like this. Ever."

Alex put his arm over Spencer and brought her closer to him. "I'm glad you didn't either." He smiled.

The wholesome moment became stressful when Raven started squirming around again, trying to reach the knots on her wrists with her teeth. "Come on, don't…don't do that. Raven." Jasper said.

All three of them moved closer to Raven. "What're you doing?" Alex asked slowly.

Suddenly, the group heard a horrific bone cracking sound. The visuals even more disturbing as Raven had popped her own shoulder out of socket, finally reaching her goal of getting her teeth to connect with her knots.

The trio was stunned when she turned her head to look at them. "There is no pain in the City of Light." She smiled and went back to chewing on her knots, the strain making her wrists bleed.

While Jasper was frozen, Alex and Spencer quickly called for help and went to Raven. She quickly fought back as they tried to get her to stop. Alex quickly recoiled in pain when Raven bit him with all her strength, making a bloody indent in his forearm. And Spencer took a violent headbutt to the face, making her stumble backwards.

"Stop her!" Clarke quickly shouted.

"What do you think we've been trying to do?!" Spencer snapped.

"Jasper, get that side." Bellamy ordered.

"She's reopened her wounds." Clarke noticed.

"Get away from me! Get away from me!" Raven yelled.

"She's gonna bleed to death. I need bandages!" Clarke yelled, Alex quickly running out to find what she needed.

"Raven, stop fighting us!"

Spencer then suddenly had an idea. It was risky, but worth a try. "Alie? Alie." She spoke, everyone looking at her with confusion. "Alie! I know you can hear this. Why are you doing this to Raven? Let her go."

"I'll let her go when you give me what I want." Raven suddenly spoke, even how she spoke sounded like Alie. "The technology that Clarke carries, it belongs to me."

"No way." Clarke said.

"Clarke, just give it to her. Clarke!" Jasper said.

"If you let Raven die, you'll never get it." Clarke said.

Raven finally calmed down and Clarke quickly popped her shoulder back into socket, making another gross sound. "Clarke, she's never gonna stop trying to get away. We can't let her hurt herself again. We have to keep watching her." Bellamy said.

Alex finally came rushing in, with bandages. "These are all I could find. Sorry, Clarke."

"It's enough. I'll take first watch after I change her bandages. We'll take turns."

"You don't give the orders, Clarke!" Jasper snapped.

"Guess he doesn't forgive you for murdering his girlfriend." Raven said coldly.

"Jasper, take a break." Bellamy said, Jasper walking out soon after.

Soon, Bellamy, Spencer, and Alex left the room. But Bellamy quickly grabbed Alex's wrist, but he quickly shoved Bellamy away. "What?" He shouted.

"Alex…" Spencer said.

"Spencer, give us a minute. Please." Bellamy said. Spencer sighed and nodded, making Alex glare at her.

"What the hell do you want, Blake?" He huffed.

"I had to do that, Alex. She wouldn't let us in otherwise. I had no choice."

Alex laughed bitterly. "You know, you always say you had no choice. There's always a choice, Blake. You didn't have to threaten her with death. You've done that enough…"

Bellamy sighed. "Your arm."

"What about it?"

"It's bleeding. What happened?"

Alex looked down at his arm, it was still bleeding slightly. "Raven bit me. I probably have rabies now."

Bellamy smiled slightly at his joke. "We have to clean it. Come on." He didn't give Alex a choice and immediately sat him down and got supplies. "This'll sting."

"Yeah, no shit." Alex scoffed.

"Alex, please. I know you hate me right now, but we can't fight with each other. Not now. After this is over, you can hate me all you want." Bellamy huffed, still bandaging Alex's arm.

"I…don't hate you, Blake." Alex said, almost sounding like he was in pain saying it. "Like I said, I only hate what you did."

Bellamy tried not to smile when Alex said he didn't hate him. He was going to make sure he didn't make Alex hate him. Suddenly, they heard Clarke yell out. Bellamy quickly got up and ran into the room where they kept Raven, soon coming out with Clarke was got bit by Raven just like Alex.

Spencer was quickly called in by Alex. "What's going on?"

"I let Alie get to me." Clarke sighed.

"It's okay, Clarke. I'll take next watch." Spencer volunteered.

"I'll go with you. It's probably best to have a buddy system now. Keep each other in check." Bellamy said.

Spencer and Bellamy took a seat at the table across the bed from Alie. Raven looked at them, more like analyzed. Spencer noticed how robotic see looked, just like Alie.

Jasper suddenly stormed and a took a seat next to the couple, he did not look happy. Raven smiled. "Well, look at your united front. Tell me Jasper, why do you give Bellamy a pass for murdering your girlfriend?" Raven asked. "What was her name?"

"Don't talk about Maya." Jasper said.

"You don't have to listen to this." Bellamy said.

"Let's protect Jasper. Jasper's so sensitive. Jasper's lost someone. Everyone, cater to his feelings." Raven mocked. "We've all lost someone. You don't see us falling apart. You don't see us getting wasted. Being useless."

"No, you took a pill to take your pain away. You gave up your memories." Jasper said.

"But then, why should we expect anything more? You used to get high off people's medicine. Being a selfish loser was your only move. That's all we see when we look at you. A coward. A waste of breath. Why do you even bother living? You're weak. Pathetic. You can't save me. You can't even save yourself. You couldn't save what's-her-name."

"You know her name!" Jasper yelled and sat up from his chair, Bellamy quickly stopping him.

"Jasper." Spencer said. "It's not Raven talking. It's just that Alie bitch. You're giving her exactly what she wants."

"She's right. You should go, Jasper. Okay?" Bellamy said.

Bellamy sat back down next to Spencer after Jasper left, sighing. "One down, two more to go." Raven grinned.

"You're so annoying." Spencer chuckled bitterly.

"Oh, Spencer. Spencer, Spencer, Spencer. Jasper may be pathetic, but at least he's not a murdering psychopath." Raven said, making Spencer roll her eyes. "Always resorting to violence when things don't go your way. It always ends up biting you in the ass though, doesn't it?"

"You're not gonna break me, Alie. I've been through worse." Spencer crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, trying to make herself comfortable.

"Oh, right. The torture you went through. By the hands of the Grounders. And who could forget dear old dad. The one person who was supposed to love you, but I guess he only loved your body."

Spencer's jaw tightened. _Nope, she's not gonna break me._

"If only you had reached out for help sooner, maybe he wouldn't have made you do all those things. Disgusting things, that still haunt your dreams when you don't have your precious little boy toy by your side. Oh wait, I guess he's not yours anymore." Raven laughed, while Spencer felt tears welling up in her eyes but she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from shouting at Alie.

"He abandoned you, Spencer. Traded you in for some Grounder pussy. I wonder if he thinks she's better in bed than you were. Most likely since she doesn't have your sexual trauma. I saw the way you looked when Murphy sailed away with her. You looked so heartbroken, and he only smirked."

Raven laughed. "You know, he's with Emori right now at Polis."

"Shut up. You're lying." Spencer said.

"Aw, that the best you can come up with? I'm sure Murphy could've come up with something wittier than that. And why would I lie? He's the new flamekeeper to the Commander. We'll get him soon."

"Bell, you good here? I just need to step out a bit." Spencer asked and left as soon as he nodded.

Spencer speed walked out of the building, quickly passing by everyone else who just looked at her with pitiful gazes.

Once she finally stepped outside, she inhaled deep, feeling the cool air reach her lungs. Then she started crying. "Damn it." She cried.

Spencer knew Raven was right, or Alie rather. About everything. She was a murderer. A pawn, only used for other people's gain. Then something to be tossed aside. "Fuck…" Spencer punched the closest thing to her, which was a cart.

_Alie has to be lying. He can't be in Polis._

Spencer sat down and cried, feeling useless. Then she heard the door open, Bellamy storming out. Kicking away some sort of bin, then punching the same cart Spencer did.

"It doesn't help…" Spencer said, startling Bellamy.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Same as you, getting my frustration out. Punching things."

"And does that make you feel better?" Niylah suddenly voiced from behind Bellamy.

"All I wanted was to protect my people." Bellamy said.

"By destroying mine?"

"I'm sorry." Bellamy cried.

"People like you always are."

Suddenly, the rover pulled up and Monty and Octavia hopped out. Monty looked angry and stormed inside. "What happened?" Spencer asked Octavia.

Octavia had a grim look on her face, but Spencer was curious to see how well they faired with setting up an EMP and quickly rushed inside just in time to see Sinclair and Monty set things up.

"All we have to do is connect her and activate the electromagnet." Sinclair said and started connecting it.

Raven quickly started fighting and then started banging her head against the headboard of the bed. "She's trying to kill herself!" Spencer shouted.

"Stop it!" Octavia yelled and tried holding her head down.

"Stop and I'll give you this." Clarke said, holding up the same rectangular shape from before.

Raven briefly stopped, but that was enough time for them to put the wristband on her. "No, you lied! You lied!"

"Shh."

"No, please don't! The EMP will give me brain damage! You know it will. Please, don't do this!"

"Don't listen to her!" Octavia said.

"We've only got one shot at this!" Sinclair shouted over Raven's begging. "EMP will fry the wristband too."

"Just do it already!" Spencer shouted.

"Go!" Monty ordered, but nothing happened.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, we need more power. The battery's not strong enough." Sinclair said.

"Well, get one that is!" Spencer yelled, still trying to hold Raven down with everybody else.

"The rover!" Alex yelled.

"Great minds think alike. Let's Go!" Monty said, leaving to go outside with Bellamy.

Suddenly, a gunshot was heard from outside. Bellamy and Monty rushed back in. "Guys, we have to move!"

Sinclair and Monty quickly set it up and pulled the switch, Raven letting out a loud painful scream. She passed out after that. Clarke quickly checked her pulse. "She's breathing." She smiled.

"Come on, Raven. Wake up." Clarke and Octavia were both saying, but she wouldn't.

Jasper suddenly grabbed the rectangular shape from Clarke and a hammer, but she quickly tried to stop him. "Don't Move!"

"No, you can't. Give it back!" Clarke begged.

"Alie did that to Raven. She's never gonna get this!" Jasper yelled, raising the hammer.

"Don't! Stop. It's Lexa!" Clarke yelled, making everyone stop. "Part of her is still in there! I saw them cut it out of her head. I'm not…" She paused.

"What is it, Clarke?" Alex asked.

"Both the AIs were made by the same person. Both tap into human consciousness. They must work similarly, right?" Clarke turned to Monty and Sinclair.

"Well, there's probably only one pathway to consciousness, so it's possible, yeah." Sinclair answered.

"What does this have to do with anything?" Octavia asked.

"I've seen an AI get removed before. Help me get Raven on her side." Clarke said, everyone quickly moving to help her. "Get that med kit from my bag."

Clarke quickly moved Raven's hair out of the way and grabbing a scalpel and putting it to the back of Raven's neck. She made a small incision and it quickly started leaking blood. "This has to work."

Everyone's jaw dropped when a silvery liquid started escaping from her neck. "What the hell is that?" Spencer cringed.

"It must be whatever's left of the chip." Sinclair said.

After the silver liquid came out, Raven started to cough, shocking everyone. "Ow." Raven said.

They all quickly helped her sit up. "I never thought I'd be so happy to see someone in pain." Octavia smiled.

"Ow." Raven chuckled.

"I could've saved my mom…" Monty voiced and ran out.

"Alie knows we're here." Bellamy reminded everyone. "We gotta move."

Everyone quickly packed up their things and hurried to the rover, Sinclair carrying Raven to the rover. Clarke walked up to her. "There's one thing I don't understand. Why did Alie want you to kill yourself?" She asked.

"Because I know why she wants a second AI." Raven answered.

"Why does she?" Alex asked.

"It's the only thing that can stop her."

"Then let's stop her. We survive together." Octavia said, and everyone nodded and got into the rover.

Spencer sighed.

"Just another day on the ground, huh?"

~~~~~~~~~~

**Oof, that was a long one.**


	39. Demons

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

**Bold = Trigedasleng**

~~~~~~~~~~

On the road yet again, Spencer found herself thinking back to everything Alie told her while controlling Raven. She kept telling herself it wasn't really Raven. Raven wasn't conniving. Raven was a nerd, currently geeking out over Becca's journal. But she did wonder if Murphy was actually at Polis.

"At 26, she found a pathway to access a human mind. That same year, she had to lock up Alie, because her answer for what was wrong with the world was-"

"Too many people." Spencer interrupted, making everyone stare at her. "And the next year, Alie launched all the nukes, killing almost everyone. What a girl, or AI I guess."

"Stop trying to steal my spotlight, Spencer. I know you know most of this stuff already, but these guys don't. Okay?" Raven joked, making Spencer smile a little.

"What did she write about the Flame?" Clarke asked.

"Alie 2.0. She saw it as a way to atone for her sins. She designed it to not just access the human mind, but to merge with one. It could never wipe us out, because it would be one of us. Bet you didn't know that, did you Spencer?"

Spencer rolled her eyes playfully.

"Becca would put it in herself first. Altered her genes so her body wouldn't reject the implant."

"Bekka Pramheda, the first Commander." Clarke said. "The gene therapy made her blood black, didn't it?"

"Yeah." Raven said.

"How did you know that?" Octavia asked.

"Nightblood. That's where it came from. Somehow it became hereditary. Luna has it. That's why we have to find her. If she can access Alie 2-"

"Then she can tell us how to stop Alie 1."

"Bekka Pramheda gets her second shot at atonement." Alex voiced.

"Get back to the mind pathway." Monty said. "If Alie uses it to upload our minds to the City of Light, then there's a chance my mom's still alive."

"Well, that depends on your definition of alive."

"Eyes sharp. Weapons hot. We're almost home." Bellamy called out. "Miller, come in." He said into the radio. No answer. "Harper, you there?" Again, no answer. "Your ride's two minutes out."

"Good start." Jasper voiced when they still heard radio silence.

Soon, the group came upon Arkadia. The gate was still broken and it was eerily quiet. Almost everyone got out of the rover, except Raven and Monty and Jasper, quickly readying themselves with their guns.

They surrounded the rover that Monty was driving through the gates slowly, with Jasper out the top of the rover with his own gun.

"We left two days ago. Why haven't they fixed the gate?" Clarke said.

"Maybe cause there's no one here to fix it." Jasper said.

"Geez, it's like a ghost town." Alex voiced.

"Miller, where the hell are you?" Bellamy tried the radio again.

"I don't like this." Spencer said.

"Maybe they got chipped." Jasper said.

"If they got chipped, they'd have been waiting for us at the cave." Bellamy said.

"Maybe they saw the open gate and went for Lincoln's book."

"Maybe you should stop saying maybe." Octavia told Jasper.

"If they are chipped, Alie already knows we're coming." Clarke said.

Spencer noticed Octavia staring at the ground, more specifically, a puddle of blood with a bullet shell next to it. Alex noticed too, but quickly tried to shake the thought away. "Let's get the book and get the heck outta here." Alex said.

"That's a plan I can support." Jasper said.

The doors to the Ark soon opened and Monty drove the rover into the hanger bay. "Close it up, turn the rover around. We may need to get out of here quickly." Bellamy ordered.

Everything felt so creepy to Spencer. There were still plates with food on tables. So abandoned, like they just vanished. Clarke put it into words perfectly, "It's like they just got up and walked away."

"We're in and out. Pack as much gear as you can into the rover." Bellamy said.

"I'll get the map." Octavia said.

"I'll, uh, go with her. No one should be alone." Jasper said.

"You don't wanna load gear, huh?" Sinclair said.

"Not even a little."

"What's the rush? They won't be coming back." Raven said.

"How do you know?" Clarke asked.

"Alie's mission seems pretty clear, Clarke. She wants everyone to be chipped." Spencer said.

"She's right. It wouldn't make sense to return to a place she already took." Raven said.

_God, wherever she goes, I hope she doesn't go where Murphy is. Wherever he is._

"It might make sense is there was someone in that place, i.e. you, who could tell us stuff like that." Sinclair said.

"Good point. Let's load gear."

Alex suddenly started walking away, but Bellamy grabbed his wrist. "Where do you think you're going?"

Alex quickly snatched his wrist back and stormed off. "I'll go with him." Spencer sighed and ran to catch up to him.

Alex stopped in front of a dorm. His old dorm. He reached to open the door, and as he expected, no one was there. "Alex, what's up?" Spencer asked.

"I don't know what I was expecting." He sniffled. "Part of me hoped that somehow my dad made it. That he somehow tricked the chipped people into thinking he was gone, but...my dad's not that smart." He laughed grimly. "His leg got messed up pretty bad on the way down. He probably took the chip willingly." He started to cry.

"Alex...there's still a chance we can get him back. Taking a chip is not a death sentence. We gotta find Luna so she can take the Flame. She can save everyone."

Alex nodded and turned to look at Spencer, only to see a Grounder behind her. "Spencer, look out!"

But it was too late, the mysterious Grounder had knocked her out. Alex knew he was next, but he wasn't going to go out easy. He quickly launched himself at the Grounder, trying to knock him out.

Alex got a few good punches in, but the Grounder quickly overpowered him and soon, Alex's world went dark.

● ● ●

Spencer started to wake up first. Her wrists stung and she couldn't speak, she was gagged. She tried to move, but her hands were behind her back and attached together. She was bound. She quickly looked around, she saw her friends. Raven, Jasper, Octavia, Monty, Harper, Bryan, Miller.

They were all chained up.

She looked to her left to see Alex passed out beside her, chained up too.

Spencer tried to wiggle out of her bonds, but she was met was a harsh slap from a man. He didn't look like a Grounder now.

Alex groaned and sat up, panicking when he saw everyone tied up. "Emerson?" He tried to say, but quickly realized he was gagged too.

"Nice to see you again, kid." Emerson said sarcastically.

Suddenly, Clarke's voice rang out over the radio. "Emerson. I know you're listening. We need to talk."

"I don't need anything do to anything. You should've killed me when you had the chance." Emerson talked through the radio.

"And now you're here to kill me, is that it?"

Emerson smirked. "Something like that."

"Then let my friends go. Do that and you can have me."

"You're brave, Clarke. I'll give you that. They're lucky to have a friend like you. Come to the airlock. No weapons. Right now."

Minutes later, as they all expected, Clarke rounded the corner with her hands up. "I held up my part of the deal. Your turn. Let my friends go."

"Tell Bellamy to show himself first." Emerson said, making Alex panic. _No way he was stupid enough..._

"I don't know what you're talking-"

Emerson interrupted Clarke by punching Octavia in the stomach, making her yelp and Bellamy soon rounded the corner holding up his gun. "No!"

"Good." Emerson smiled. "Now, take out the clip, throw it down the hall, put the gun on the ground and get inside."

"Please, you wanted me." Clarke said. "I'll get inside once you let them go."

"I was talking to Bellamy." Emerson made a slice across Octavia's collarbone.

"Okay! Okay! Just...just stop." Bellamy said and quickly followed Emerson's instructions. Soon stepping inside the airlock, briefly meeting Alex's eyes.

"Those are yours." Emerson said, motioning towards the handcuffs attached to the wall. Bellamy reluctantly handcuffed himself, making Alex struggle against his handcuffs, but it amounted to nothing.

Emerson let Octavia go. Instead, reaching for his gun and pointing it at Clarke. "Get on your knees, Clarke."

Clarke got on her knees.

"Put your hands behind your head."

Clarke put her hands behind her head, and Emerson walked out and closed the airlock door. He quickly grabbed Clarke and shoved her to the door window, keeping the gun to her head.

Soon, Emerson pulled themselves away and pushed a big red button.

"Airlock Five. Oxygen venting." The PA system rung out.

Everyone trapped in the airlock immediately felt the lack of oxygen, all gasping for air. Spencer felt her lungs were on fire. She tried gasping for air, but none reached her lungs. Alex tried so hard to get his handcuffs undone, so he could at least hug the people he was closest to goodbye. But all that got him was bloody wrists.

While a commotion was happening outside the doors, everyone took one last look at each other. Alex and Bellamy looked at each other with a devastated look, trying to communicate unspoken words to each other. Alex wished he could've at least told Bellamy he forgave him.

Spencer and Alex looked at each other. _At least I'm dying with the people I care about_ , they both thought.

Spencer thought of one last face before she passed out, hoping that one day he'd forgive her after she was gone.

But death never came.

Everyone breathed in deep inhales after Clarke opened the doors. She had killed Emerson with the Flame.

Clarke quickly uncuffed everyone, immediately giving hugs to everyone. Once they were uncuffed, Alex and Spencer hugged each other so tight they almost couldn't breathe again.

Spencer quickly went to hug Clarke and thanked her, while Alex watched as Bellamy took care of his sister.

Bellamy sighed as Octavia pushed him away, but quickly smiled when he looked at Alex, who gave a smile back.

 _Ah, screw it_ , Bellamy thought and rushed to trap Alex in a hug, catching him off-guard. He sighed in relief when Alex didn't push him away, then hugged him even tighter. "Bell, I can't breathe." Alex laughed.

Bellamy quickly pulled away. "Sorry. Sorry."

Alex blushed. "It's okay. It's not like I couldn't breathe a minute ago."

"Oh, shut up, Neil." Bellamy grinned and pulled him back in for another hug.

"Hey, lovebirds. We gotta go." Spencer called out teasingly, making Alex and Bellamy both blush.

"Uh, yeah. Right." Bellamy quickly gathered himself and walked away from Alex.

It was night time when everyone got outside, doing last minute packing before they had to leave. Bellamy came through the gates, holding a body that was wrapped in cloth.

Alex started to tear up again. _Please tell me that's not..._

Bellamy gently put the body down, Octavia quickly dropping to her knees and uncovering the face.

It was Lincoln.

Octavia caressed his dead face and let out a painful wail.

Everyone just stood around, the loss of such a good person weighing down on those who knew him well.

Alex felt the pain of seeing him getting shot again. It hit like a meteor, making a crater and burning his heart from the inside out. It felt all too overwhelming, but he stayed. For Octavia.

Spencer quickly took Alex's hand, giving it a light squeeze. Alex gave her a weak smile in appreciation. It didn't help his pain, but he knew she was there.

Octavia gave a kiss on Lincoln's forehead and got up.

Everyone worked on building the pyre for Lincoln, and their newest loss, Sinclair.

Everyone was devastated that Sinclair had been killed by Emerson, the pain just kept piling on that day.

The group put Sinclair and Lincoln on top of the wood platform, Octavia already holding a torch of fire. Raven said her goodbyes to her father figure and stepped away.

" **Your fight is over**." Octavia said as she lit the pyre.

" **Your fight is over**." Everyone repeated, even Spencer. She never thought she'd speak the Grounder language in her life, but the situation called for it.

The group watched sorrowfully as the wood caught fire quickly, immediately smelling the burning of wood and human flesh.

"It's time to go!" Octavia said suddenly. "I'll get the map!" She said and walked away.

Everyone loaded up the rover in a hurry, desperate to find this Luna woman. Monty was walking down the ramp with Raven, not looking like they were ready to go.

"Hey, we're leaving. Why aren't you ready?" Bellamy asked.

"We're not going with you." Raven said.

"What? Raven..." Alex said.

"I can barely walk and my shoulder is killing me. But my brain is all kinds of awesome."

"She remembered that Alie downloaded herself into the Ark mainframe." Monty explained. "If the code is still there, we might be able to find a back door."

"I'm guessing once you connect Alie 2 to Luna, we'll need to access Alie 1 to take her down." Raven said.

Bellamy looked over to Jasper. "You sure you wanna go? It'll be dangerous."

"You know me well. I'm in." Jasper answered.

"Alex, I think it's best if you stay here. Along with Spencer."

"What? No way, Bellamy." Alex quickly refused. "After all that's happened, I'm not letting you out of my sight." Alex cringed at how clingy that sounded, but thankfully Bellamy didn't notice.

Bellamy sighed. "Fine, what about you, Spence?"

Spencer felt everyone's eyes on her, and against her better judgement, she decided. "I don't think I'll be useful to your search. I was never was good a long distance travel." She laughed nervously.

"That's not true, but okay. It's your call." Bellamy said.

"Spencer, are you sure?" Alex asked.

"My mind won't be in it, I'll only be a burden." Spencer smiled weakly.

"You've never been a burden, Spencer. Not now, now ever. But I won't force you. Just...be safe here. Okay? Help out Raven anyway you can." Alex pulled Spencer in for a hug.

"Take care of your man, Alex." Spencer whispered.

Alex almost had the nerve to punch her in the face, but pulled away and gave her a nervous smile and hopped in the rover.

Bellamy walked up to her. "We'll be back soon with Luna."

"Counting on it." Spencer smiled.

Bellamy pulled her into a hug. "Please, don't leave."

Spencer pulled away and gave him a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"Oh..."

"Please, Spence. It's not worth risking your life over. We need you alive. Promise me." Bellamy put both his hands on her shoulders. "Please."

"Okay. Okay...I promise." Spencer sighed.

Bellamy gave her another hug and got in the rover, but he was unaware of what Spencer was doing when he made her promise.

She had her fingers crossed.

~~~~~~~~~~


	40. Join or Die

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

**Bold = Trigedasleng**

~~~~~~~~~~

Spencer watched as the rover made it's way out of Arkadia, hoping that she was making the right decision to stay behind.

"Hey, they're going to be okay." Raven reassured her.

"Thanks, Raven." Spencer smiled weakly.

"I really thought you were gonna go with them, since Alex is your best friend and all." Raven walked away, Spencer following.

"He's in good hands." Spencer smiled genuinely, thinking back to how Bellamy held onto Alex like his life depended on it.

"You're talking about Bellamy, right?" Raven smirked.

"You see it too, don't you?"

"Anyone would be stupid not to. He looks at Alex how you used to look at Murphy." Raven cringed as soon as she said those words. She looked back at Spencer and saw she was wearing a frown. "Spence, I…"

"It's okay, Raven."

"The things I said, that was Alie. It wasn't me. I never would've said those things to you or mean them." Raven frowned.

"I know, Raven." Spencer said. "But about Murphy, is he really in Polis?"

Raven nodded reluctantly.

"Did you see him?"

"It was weird. It was like everyone who was chipped has a collective hive mind. Everyone could see each other. I could see Murphy, sort of." Raven explained.

"How is he?" She asked.

"He seemed to be doing…pretty well. It wasn't exactly something I wanted to see." Raven made a disgusted face.

"He was with Emori…" Spencer sighed. "Wait…if you were seeing him through her eyes…that means she's chipped."

"Yeah, it seems so. Why?"

"That means Murphy's in danger. He probably doesn't know she's chipped." Spencer said, suddenly feeling her chest tighten up.

"There's nothing we can do about it now. Not until they get Luna. I'm sorry, Spence." Raven said and went back to trying to hack the Ark's mainframe.

_Like hell I can't do anything about it…_

Spencer quickly made up an excuse to go back to her old dorm and left Raven with Monty.

Spencer finally felt like she had a purpose now. She's had purpose before, but she never felt as determined as she has now. She had to save Murphy. Even if he hated her. Even if he loved Emori.

…even if he was already dead.

Spencer had to try to save him. Even if it costs her her life.

After the tedious minutes of packing her bag, checking and double checking her supplies, Spencer finally decided she was ready. It must've been the stupidest plan she's ever come up with, but was going to stick by it.

_Just gonna go to Polis, and take Murphy. Even if he doesn't want to go, I'm going to take him away from there. It's basically kidnapping, but I'll do that if it means he's safe._

"Spencer?"

Spencer jumped and turned to see Raven, with a confused look on her face. "Raven? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be working on the mainframe?"

"I got worried about you...is that a bag full of supplies?"

"Uh…"

"You're leaving, aren't you?"

Spencer sighed and closed her eyes. She was already caught, no use trying to lie. "Yes."

"Spence, I already told you, you can't help him." Raven scolded.

"I have to try, Raven!"

"You can't! Don't you see? Murphy's with that girl now. He's moved on."

"Raven…"

"Don't you remember what happened to Finn?"

Spencer froze and gave Raven a glare. "What?" She asked.

"His love for Clarke blinded him. It made him crazy. Don't let love influence you the same way. Please…I can't lose another friend." Raven cried.

"Love?" Spencer paused. "I don't…it's not the same thing, Raven. I'm not killing anyone. I only want to save Murphy. That's all. I'm sorry, Raven. But you can't convince me."

She sighed, her gaze on Spencer turned from concern to anger. "Guess I should've known. I just want you to know how stupid and selfish you're being. Just go." Raven said, sending an ice cold glare Spencer's way before leaving.

Spencer didn't have time to mourn the potential loss of their friendship. She would have to hurry if she was going to make it to Murphy in time.

She passed the room where Raven was and gave her an apologetic look before walking out of the Ark, and out the gates of Arkadia.

A mile away, Spencer turned to see the tip of the Ark in the sky above the trees. "May we meet again." She voiced. She turned towards the path ahead, following her map to Polis.

_I'm coming, Murphy._

Legs on fire, muscles aching badly. But still, Spencer pushed on.

She was so close. So close to Polis. So close to reaching Murphy. It had been two days. Two days of nonstop traveling. But she was close, she could almost see the tower in the distance.

Getting closer to the city, Spencer starting walking inside the treeline. She did not want to be caught. She could smell the blood from where she was, and another sight that horrified her.

It was Kane...nailed to a cross.

_Jesus…literally. Alie is not messing around._

She wasn't going to lie to herself. Seeing Kane nailed up hurt just a bit. He forgave her and treated her equally, now he's dying. She wanted to help him, but she couldn't. She'd get caught, and she couldn't get caught.

_Now, how am I gonna find Murphy? If the city's overrun, he's gotta be locked up if he hadn't taken the key. Alie wants everyone to live. He's alive. He must be._

_It's gonna take a miracle for me to pull this off…_

It was probably a good thing Spencer was amazing at hide and seek when she was small, she managed to make her way around the tower without getting spotted.

All of Alie's slaves were outside the main entrance of the tower, praying or whatever they did. Or they were testing out their crucifixion skills. Maybe Spencer would try to save Kane, if she had the time to figure out a plan.

Spencer crept up to a door, slightly opened it and peeked in. No one was in the hallway where she was looking.

Her heart felt like it was going to pop out of her chest as she rounded a corner, seeing a flight of stairs that must've led down to the dungeons.

_I'm almost there, Murphy…_

She descended down the stairs, only to freeze when a couple of Grounders stopped her.

_Shit…_

The Grounders grabbed Spencer roughly and dragged her through the halls and soon outside.

Spencer tried to fight back, but Alie's slaves have proven time and time again that they're stronger than what should be normal.

She was dragged outside, soon kneeling beside Kane's cross. "Spencer?"

Spencer looked up in horror, seeing the nails sticking through Kane's wrists. "Ms. Rolfe, glad you could join us. We've been expecting you."

She turned to see Jaha, immediately trying to run at him but was held down by her captors. "I should've killed you when I had the chance." She seethed.

"I understand your resentment towards me, Spencer. I floated your mother. I left you and John to die. I understand. But this key can take away all the hate and anger." Jaha held out the key to the City of Light.

"Shove it up your ass." She spat.

Jaha sighed. "Always so headstrong. It's unfortunate. Spencer, if you don't take the key, you'll end up like our friend Marcus here."

"Spencer, don't do it!" Kane begged. "Keep them safe!"

Spencer knew what he meant immediately. Alie was trying to find out where Clarke was. She had the Flame.

"Spencer, please. All you have to do is swallow it." Jaha held out the key again.

"I've never even liked swallowing pills so...nope."

Unbeknownst to Spencer, Alie was right beside Jaha, telling him that they needed her. That Spencer was sure to know where Clarke and the Flame was. "We need her too." Alie said.

"Okay. Take her to the dungeons." Jaha ordered.

Spencer sighed and and yelped when Alie's minions grabbed her harshly, yet again. Not even being the slightest bit gentle when they dragged her to the dungeons.

She couldn't see as they had put a bag over her head, but she could tell they were getting close. A part of her hoped Murphy wouldn't be in the same cage as her, but if he wasn't, that would probably mean he was dead.

But thankfully, she didn't have to question it long. She was quickly chained up, and the bag came off her head.

It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust, but she saw the room she was in. Dusty, bloody, hay laying around. Yeah, she didn't know what else she was expecting.

"Spencer?"

She looked to her side to see none other than Charles Pike. She couldn't help but cringe in disgust and try to move away from him, but unfortunately, she was chained up beside him. _I thought he was dead...guess not._

"What the hell are you doing here?"

The voice that Spencer was all too familiar with spoke.

John Murphy.

He was chained up too, in the middle of the room. She also noticed Indra was there in the corner. "Murphy…" She whispered.

"As I said, what the hell are you doing here?" Murphy asked, standing up.

It had been so long to Spencer, she was rendered speechless. She wanted so badly to hug him, but she couldn't. Not with the chains.

"I…I wanted to see if you were alive." Spencer voiced.

Murphy scoffed. "Well, here I am. Alive. Now what?"

"I thought I'd try to save you, but…it didn't work out exactly how I planned."

"Oh, ya think?"

Even if it was making fun of her, she loved hearing his voice again. "I've missed you…" She didn't want to say it, but she did and she found she wasn't even the slightest bit embarrassed.

Murphy sighed. "I'm sure you have. But now's not the time, Spencer."

"I know. I just wanted you to know that."

Suddenly, Alie's slaves and Jaha came in, storming right up to Spencer. "Are you ready to take the key?" He asked, even more conviction in his eyes.

She chuckled nervously. "Nah, you can keep the key to yourself."

"If you don't take it, you'll end up like Kane."

"Go float yourself." She said, voice wavering slightly.

Alie suddenly stopped her slaves when she saw the way Spencer was looking at Murphy. Eyes full of love, just like Kane looked at Abby. "She'll break if you threaten John." Alie told Jaha.

Suddenly, the slaves picked up Murphy and held a knife to his throat. "Hey, hey, Hey! Stop! Leave him alone!" Spencer yelled.

"Take the key and we'll spare him."

Spencer cried and grit her teeth. "Please…"

"Take the key."

"Spencer!" Murphy call out roughly. "Don't fucking do it!"

The knife dug into Murphy's neck slightly, drawing blood, but that's all it took for Spencer to break. "Okay! I'll do it, just please…leave him be."

Jaha smiled and put the chip up to her lips, all the while Murphy was trying to convince her not to with the knife still at his throat. "Spencer, if you do this…I'll never forgive you!"

"...but you'll be alive."

Spencer opened her mouth and Jaha set the chip on her tongue, her quickly swallowing it. It took a few minutes, but she soon saw Alie and felt a sense of overwhelming peace and tranquility.

"Thank you, Spencer. Now I know where Clarke's headed." Alie said.

Murphy sighed. He saw Spencer's eyes, it wasn't her anymore. "Not you too…" Murphy whispered to himself.

He really wished his possible last words to her wasn't what he actually said.

Spencer was quickly unchained by Alie's slaves and she passed everyone still chained up and out of the dungeon. She met a smiling Kane, all his wounds now dressed. "So glad you've finally joined us, Ms. Rolfe."

Spencer sighed blissfully. "Yeah, me too."

_● ● ●_

In the rover, Alex noticed Bellamy's worried look.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I…" Bellamy sighed. "I'm just worried about Spencer, that's all."

"Why? She stayed behind with Raven."

"You heard what Alie said as Raven, didn't you?"

Alex realized what he was talking now. "Come on, Bell. You know Spencer-"

"Exactly. I do know Spencer. That's why I have a bad feeling at her staying behind. She'd do anything for that asshole. Even almost let me die for him." Bellamy huffed.

"She didn't, actually. Murphy kept her with him while he let me go." Jasper butted in, making Bellamy glare at him.

"She still let him go afterwards."

"Bellamy. Spencer's not stupid. She couldn't possibly try to help Murphy when Polis is probably infested with Alie's slaves." Alex try to convince him, and himself.

Bellamy sighed. "I hope you're right, Neil."

"Yeah, me too."

An hour went by slowly, Alex was trying to navigate, but it was proving to be difficult and handed it over to Jasper. "It's been an hour since we passed the airplane wreckage. Seeing as we're using a map without any distances, it could be days before we reach Luna's village." Jasper said.

"At least we know we're going in the right direction." Bellamy said.

"We're running out of daylight. We should stop in the sun and recharge the battery."

Alex looked out the window, all he saw was rain and dark clouds. "What sun?"

"We keep going until it dies." Clarke said.

"We keep going until we get to Luna." Octavia corrected.

Jasper held up a drawing. "This her?"

"Yes."

"What do you think she's gonna say when we show up asking to put an AI in her head?"

"I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it?" Alex said unsurely.

"Lincoln said she helps those that are in trouble. She'll help us too." Octavia said.

_How can she be so sure?_

Suddenly, Bellamy stepped on the breaks, making everyone in the rover jolt forward. A tree was in the way. "You think she can help us find a better map?" Jasper joked.

"Backtrack." Bellamy said. "Find somewhere where the trees aren't so bad." But Octavia suddenly jumped out of the rover. "Hey!"

"Guess we're going on foot. Great." Alex sighed and opened the door to his side, everyone getting out as well.

Everyone quickly followed after Octavia, who was running. "Anyone hear the part where I said it could be days?" Jasper asked.

"Stop!" Octavia said. "You hear that?"

Everyone listened. "Sounds like water." Alex answered.

Octavia and Alex quickly ran towards the sound, everyone else following behind. "Eyes sharp, they could be hostile!" Bellamy ordered.

"They're not hostile. Put the guns down!" Alex shouted at Bellamy and continued following after Octavia.

Soon finding a river that led to large lake. "But where's the village?"

Octavia quickly looked over Lincoln's map. "No, no it can't be." She said and ran towards land that had a bunch of weirdly shaped rocks.

"This isn't a village. It's just a bunch of rocks." Jasper said.

"She's gone." Clarke voiced.

"What do we do now?" Alex asked, but everyone's attention turned to Octavia at the edge of the water and let out a frustrated scream.

"We should make a fire. It's cold." Clarke said.

"On it." Alex said and walked away, back into the woods.

"You shouldn't go alone." Bellamy said when he caught up to him.

"It's not like anyone's here. Not anymore."

"Are you okay, Neil?"

Alex sighed and stopped walking, turning to Bellamy. "I'm just so tired. Stressed, more like. I was really hopeful that Luna would be here."

Bellamy placed his hand on Alex's shoulder. "We'll get through this, Alex. Together."

Alex looked to Bellamy and placed his own hand atop his. "Together." He chuckled.

The stare Alex was giving Bellamy was intense. His heart was beating fast, his hands started to feel clammy. Alex took Bellamy's hand off his shoulder, but never let go of it. Bellamy gulped when Alex gently pulled him closer, briefly wetting his lips.

As soon as Alex's face was close enough to where they could feel his breath intertwine with his, Bellamy froze. "Alex…I'm not...I don't like men." Bellamy whispered.

"Then why haven't you pushed me away?" Alex asked softly.

"I…I don't know."

"It's okay, Bellamy." Alex whispered.

Alex tested the waters a little by just hovering his lips over Bellamy's, afraid to scare him away like a baby deer. And to his surprise, Bellamy allowed it.

For what felt like forever of just hovering over his lips, Alex finally added a little bit of pressure, making Bellamy shudder at the feeling.

Bellamy didn't know what he was doing. Was he actually letting a male kiss him? For the longest time, he thought he had feelings for Clarke, but feeling Alex so close. Clarke was the last thought on his mind.

Bellamy got a little frustrated by Alex's teasing. "Please…" He whimpered out, making him feel a little embarrassed by how needy he sounded.

Alex smirked slightly and added full pressure, kissing Bellamy's full lips completely.

Something inside Bellamy came alive right there, like some sort of electricity. He wanted more. He wanted Alex.

Alex was taken by surprise when Bellamy got more aggressive, pulling him by the waist and swiping his tongue across Alex's bottom lip, begging for entrance.

Alex's mouth opened wider for Bellamy, his tongue soon exploring his mouth like a pro. Pulling Alex even closer, Bellamy groaned at the friction that was made between their waists.

Their union soon same to an unfortunate end when Clarke called out. "You guys okay?"

"Yeah!" Alex's voice cracked, but quickly cleared his throat. "Yeah! We're good. Just getting some firewood." He blushed furiously.

"I forgot anyone else even existed for a minute." Bellamy laughed nervously.

"We should, uh, get the firewood."

"Oh, um, yeah. Okay."

Soon, the two men came back with the firewood, Octavia and Jasper already working on getting some sparks going. Bellamy and Alex gave each other knowing smiles, realizing that no one suspected what they were actually doing in those woods.

"It'll be dark soon." Clarke said. "We need to talk about what we're going to do."

"We wait until first light and then we spilt up and search the shore in both directions." Octavia said, all while trying to get a fire going.

"Nice." Alex said once he saw smoke start to rise.

"Yes." Octavia said to herself and picked up the little fire she started to put it underneath the stack of wood, quickly blowing on it and giving oxygen.

"I agree." Bellamy spoke. "Lincoln wouldn't put this spot on the map unless it was important." He said, reaching down to grab the journal

"Don't touch that!" Octavia quickly slapped his hand away.

Bellamy sighed and bent down beside his sister, who was throwing more sticks into the fire. "Come on, O. How long?"

"I don't know. I can't even look at you. Because every time I do, I see Pike putting that gun to Lincoln's head. I hear the gunshot. I see him fall."

"I didn't kill Lincoln."

"No, but he is dead because of you." Octavia stood up, her voice trembling.

"I came to you. You didn't take my help. If you had just trusted me, I…" Bellamy stopped when Alex shook his head at him. Octavia sat back down, tending to the fire.

He sighed and walked away, making Alex itch to run after him. But Jasper throwing something in the fire to make it glow a bright green stopped him from doing so.

"Woah!" Alex said startled.

"What did you just do?" Octavia asked.

"Nothing. I just threw these in the fire." Jasper said, holding a branch.

"What is it?" Alex asked.

Octavia looked in the journal and pulled out the same type of green plant that was on the branch. She threw it into the fire and it glowed green again. "Signal fire. He was trying to tell us. This is how we contact Luna."

Everyone smiled. "I'll get more." Jasper said.

Alex kept smiling until his eyes found Bellamy. He was still walking away. He went to walk to him, but Octavia stopped him. "Why are you going to him?"

Alex turned around. "What?"

"Why aren't you mad at him?"

"I…"

"You saw what happened to Lincoln. Bellamy helped Pike do that. He was your friend." Octavia said.

"Octavia…I loved Lincoln. He was like my brother. And I was angry at Bellamy, I still am. I hate what he did, but…" Alex sighed. "It's complicated, O."

Octavia scoffed. "I guess no one can resist the charm of my big brother, huh?"

Alex frowned. "No. I suppose not."

Octavia shook her head. "He's going to break your heart. Trust me. But fine, go on. Go to him. Give him your undying support." She scowled.

Alex sighed sadly, but went down the shore and walked up to Bellamy. "Hey…"

Bellamy sighed. "Hey."

"Need a hug?" Alex held out his arms, offering a smile.

"I need my sister back." Bellamy said.

Alex frowned and put his arms down. "She loves you, Bell. She always will. She's just in a lot of pain right now."

Bellamy finally took Alex's offer of a hug and quickly wrapped his arms around the smaller man. "I'm so sorry, Alex." He cried onto his shoulder.

"Bell…"

"I didn't want to hurt you or O. I didn't want Lincoln to die."

Alex sighed. "I know, Bell. I know."

Bellamy pulled away and looked at Alex. "You think you could ever forgive me?"

"Of course I can...it just takes time." Alex reached up to caress Bellamy's face, but he flinched away.

"Sorry. I'm just not used to this whole thing." Bellamy laughed nervously. "You're the only man I've…had feelings for like when I'd have feelings for girls. What about you?"

Alex shrugged. "I've liked both men and women. But I've always found men more attractive."

"So, I'm not special." Bellamy said, half joking.

"Shut up, Blake." He laughed. "You're the first man I've had actual feelings for."

Bellamy smiled and leaned down to kiss Alex, but they were interrupted. "Sorry, am I interrupting?" Clarke's panicked face showed up.

"No, no! You're okay." Alex sighed and pulled away from Bellamy. "I'll go help them tend to the fire."

"Wow, look who's getting some." Jasper teased with a scowl plastered on his face when he saw Alex making his way back over to the fire.

Octavia scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Shut up, Jasper. Just tend to your fire."

Soon, the trio came to be somewhat relaxed, occasionally throwing those leaves into the fire to make it glow green. But afterwards, a bunch of heavily armed people showed up and surrounded them.

Everyone panicked, but Octavia calmed the boys down. "It's okay." She said, dropping her sword.

Alex tensed up when they brought Clarke and Bellamy to them, gagged and bound and putting them on their knees. " **Who are you? Why did you signal?** " A Grounder male asked, Alex quietly proud of himself that he understood.

" **I am Octavia of Skaikru and I seek safe passage**." Octavia said.

"Skaikru, bringers of death. Why should we give you safe passage?"

"Lincoln." Was her other answer. The Grounders all looked at each other. "He sent us."

The Grounder nodded. " **Remove their gags and free their hands."** The other Grounders soon untied Clarke and Bellamy, Alex immediately going to him and helped him remove his gag.

"What's going on?" Bellamy whispered to his sister.

"I don't know."

The Grounder soon grabbed a vial of strange liquid and handed it to Octavia. "What is that?" Clarke asked.

The Grounder gave one to Clarke. "Safe passage." And he kept handing out the vials.

"What does it do?" Jasper asked, but only got a stare from the Grounder.

Octavia quickly uncapped the vial and downed the liquid. "Octavia, wait!" Bellamy said.

"I trust Lincoln."

"If only she drinks, only she goes." The Grounder said.

"See you on the other side." Jasper said and drank the contents of the vial. Soon, Octavia passed out and fell to the ground. "Oh, crap. Oh, god." Jasper voiced and passed out too.

"Last chance." The Grounder said.

"Bell?" Alex looked to him. "Together?"

Bellamy nodded. "Together."

The two boys quickly downed the vial, holding each other's hand. Clarke drank soon after. " **Signal the boat**." Was the last thing Alex heard before he passed out.

● ● ●

It was cold. It smelled…salty.

Alex looked around. He was in a big metal box, surrounded by his friends. Clarke soon woke, then Bellamy, Octavia, and Jasper.

"Where the hell are we?" Bellamy asked.

"My sword's gone." Octavia said.

Alex felt around. "Guns, too."

Octavia soon tried banging on the walls, and the group was soon met with a blinding light at the entrance.

In walked a woman with great curly hair, similar to the drawing in Lincoln's journal. "Luna."

"Where's Lincoln?" She asked.

"Lincoln is dead."

"Lincoln said that you would help us." Clarke said.

"Did he?" Luna asked.

"Luna, you're the last of your kind. The last Nightblood."

"So Lexa is dead as well."

"Her spirit has chosen you to become the next Commander. Titus entrusted me with the Flame to give it to you."

"Then he should have told you that I left my conclave, swearing never to kill again."

"You don't have to kill." Clarke continued. "To lead is your birthright, how you lead is your choice. Here." Clarke handed the Flame over to Luna.

"I recognize the sacred symbol, but what is that?"

"This is the Flame. It holds the spirits of the Commanders, of Lexa. Will you take it and become the next Commander?" Clarke asked.

"No." She said and walked out.

They all followed her and they suddenly realized where they all where.

In the middle of the ocean.

~~~~~~~~~~


	41. Red Sky at Morning

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

**Bold = Trigedasleng**

~~~~~~~~~~

Murphy was fiddling with the hay that littered the dungeon floor, hating that all he could think about was Spencer. _Why would she do that…for me? Crazy bitch..._

"I'm sorry about Spencer…"

Murphy looked to Pike, who was still bleeding and bloody from Indra's torture. He was giving him a look of pity. "What're talking about?" Murphy glared.

"I can see how much she means to you."

Murphy scoffed. "She left me to die months ago. She means nothing to me."

Pike gave him a look of confusion. "She just took that chip to save you."

"She's never been the smartest girl."

"Well, she obviously cares about you. I've never really known her, she was a part of the rebellion at Arkadia, but she seemed very loyal to her friends. Like Alex."

Murphy rolled his eyes at the mention of Alex.

"We don't have time for this talk." Indra seethed, still trying to free a Grounder woman.

"Indra, you don't have to free me. The Skaikru plan is good." The female Grounder said.

"Running is not a plan."

"It's not running. It's surviving." Murphy sighed.

"For how long? This threat will find us all eventually."

"Murphy's right. We regroup and come back stronger. It's a legitimate battle strategy." Pike added.

"I have a better one. Kill their leader, Jaha." Indra said.

Murphy smiled and chuckled. "Now that's a strategy I could support. Unfortunately, he's not their leader, though. He's being controlled just like everyone else by that…" He trailed off, suddenly realizing he could put the people he cared about in danger if they knew. No matter how many times he tried to tell himself he hated Spencer, he couldn't give information that might get her killed.

"What?" Pike asked.

"Nothing. Never mind, forget it." He could've come up with a better lie, but it was too late.

"John, this isn't a time for-"

Pike was interrupted by the sound of doors clanking open, and Indra quickly went back over to where she was supposed to be. Soon, a couple slaves came in.

"Who's ready to take the key?"

"None of us is ever gonna take a key." Pike said, getting the slaves' attention.

After looking over Pike, the slaves immediately started searching for whoever was unchained in the cell. Once they got to Indra, she quickly killed the slaves with ease.

It was their time.

"Come on, grab the keys. She's gonna send for reinforcements." Murphy ordered.

Indra stormed up to Murphy and grabbed ahold of his shirt's collar. "You said Jaha was controlled. Tell me what you know."

Murphy couldn't. "The smart play here is going for the tunnels while we still can. Before we're overrun by Alie's groupies." He said instead of answering Indra.

"If you have information that can help us-"

"We don't have time for this." Indra interrupted Pike and held a nail to Murphy's neck. "Talk!" She threatened.

Murphy wept internally, he had no choice now. "Jaha's backpack."

"What about it?" Pike asked.

"Alright, it runs the AI, and if we can destroy it, I'm pretty sure we can destroy her."

"I know where it is." Indra said. "I saw them move it into the temple before I was captured."

"They'll expect us to run." Pike said. "We can use that. The AI will follow those who do, while we go for the pack."

"We?"

"I can't do this alone. Do you wanna save your people, or not?"

Indra quickly ordered her people to run away, to distract Alie away. "What are you waiting for?" Pike asked Murphy.

"The bad guys are following them, right? I mean, I may as well take my chances with you two."

"Your father would be proud."

"So, how do we do it?" Indra asked.

"Carefully." Murphy answered.

Meanwhile, everyone was scattered about the the ground outside the Polis tower, all on their knees and not present in reality.

Spencer was suddenly somewhere else. There were no trees, no grass, no blood. Concrete and liveliness. She was in the City of Light.

Spencer smiled as she looked around. _Wow…_

"Spencer."

Spencer looked to her side and saw Alie. "Alie. This place is so beautiful."

"We have a special task for you."

Spencer smirked. "Of course. Anything."

"We've sent Emori to try and stop your friend, John."

_John...Murphy._

"That's right. We're going to use her power over him. But if that doesn't work, he's sure to break to you." Alie smiled.

"But last time I saw him, he hated me for leaving him. Wouldn't that be detrimental to your plan?"

"Silly. He doesn't hate you. Why do you think he was telling you not to take the chip?"

_The chip…he told me not to take it...I wanted to listen to him._

"Now, will you do it?"

Spencer smiled. "Of course."

Spencer opened her eyes, along with Emori. They both stood up in unison and made their way to where the backpack was. Normally, she would hate teaming up with Emori, but now she had no choice.

"Remember, don't shoot to kill. We need them." Alie told her people, then she turned to Spencer. "We can't let John see you."

Spencer didn't question it, even when it was her nature to ask. But she belonged to Alie and her cause. She quickly hid herself from everyone. Just in time, soon John and his group came in.

Suddenly, gunshots echoed through the room. Pike shot everyone but Emori, John's request. Spencer smiled to herself, as they did not see her, also thankful she didn't get shot. Of course, how could she help Alie if she was dead?

"John…" Spencer heard Emori say. "That's a nuclear fuel cell, John." She said, making him stop from destroying the pack. "You'll irradiate the entire city."

"So, how do we destroy it?" Indra asked.

"Carefully." Pike said.

Moments pass, and Spencer was still hidden successfully. Alie had no use for her yet…yet. "If I remove myself from Arkadia, the mobile unit will be my sole power source." Alie said, Emori and Spencer knowing exactly what she meant.

Thankfully, Alie's helpers were already trying to break through the doors that Indra had sealed. "It's about to go. Just tell me where to hit this thing!" John said.

"I require a minute to complete the migration." Alie said.

"Either we do this now, or we run." Indra voiced.

"Okay, do it." Pike told John. "Just don't hit the fuel cell here."

"Talk to him, Emori. You can't let him do this." Alie said.

"John, please, listen to me. You can't do this!" Emori started to beg. "You are making a mistake."

John sighed. "I'm sorry, Emori."

"He's not convinced...Spencer."

Spencer suddenly came out of the woodworks, immediately trying to go to John. Only Pike stopped her. "Murphy…"

"Spencer? What the hell?" John said in shock, tears quickly trying to break through at the sight of her.

"Murphy, don't do this. It's not just Alie in there. It's all of us. Fuck the nuke. The minds of everyone who has entered the City of Light are on that server. If you destroy it, our minds will be gone. Forever."

John looked to Spencer with tears in his eyes.

"I'll be gone, Murphy. The girl who never gave up on you, who's always stayed by your side. Even when you were trapped in that damn bunker, I fought for you everyday. The girl who loves you…"

John felt all the built up tears in his eyes pour over, he turned back to Pike. "I can't..." He whispered.

Pike nodded and immediately crushed the device, making John sob and turn away. He couldn't watch.

Both Emori and Spencer passed out. Emori slumped in her chair and Spencer falling to the floor.

John quickly fell to his knees and cradled Spencer in his arms, caressing her face. "Are you okay?" He asked, glancing over at Emori who was now smiling. He looked back at Spencer, who was smiling eerily too.

"You were too late." Spencer grinned. "Guess you should've tried harder, huh?"

John frowned and stood up. "We can't let them see the tunnel." He said, putting a bag over Emori's head and doing to same to Spencer.

"Good work, Spencer." Alie said.

● ● ●

  
Alex looked around slowly. _We're in the middle of the fricking ocean…I don't like this._

Reading everything about what the ocean was like in Earth history didn't make him feel any amount of comfortable when being in the middle of it.

Though he'd never admit it…Alex was terribly afraid of sharks. He just hoped he didn't fall in.

Alex jumped slightly when Bellamy suddenly put his hand on his shoulder. "You alright, Neil?"

"Oh…uh…yeah. I'm great. Just taking it all in." Alex stuttered and then whined. "I don't like it here."

"Hey, we won't be here long."

"Ugh, I hope you're right."

Luna told her guards to take the group inside. They were placed in some sort of common room area. It looked cozy enough. It could've used a bit more light.

They waited and waited. Alex was starting to feel the boredom set in, then a woman started telling a story. Apparently from personal experience. About how she almost was killed by a shark.

Alex shuddered, _just my luck._

Jasper seemed to be enthralled by the woman's story. Even if Alex felt nervous hearing the story, he was glad his friend found some amount of happiness when his usual state was depression.

The small grouped looked towards the door when they heard it clank open. "She's here. Maybe she changed her mind." Bellamy said once he saw Luna, he and Clarke getting up to talk to her.

The conversation didn't last very long, that was either a good thing or a bad thing. Luna walked over to Octavia, Jasper, and Alex. "We need to talk." She told Octavia.

"That's our cue." Jasper said to Alex.

Alex sighed and walked over to Bellamy, and gave him a questioning look. "She didn't change her mind. They're sending boats for us tonight." He sighed.

"Damn it…"

After Luna finished talking to Octavia, everyone sat back down, except Jasper. He went to talk to the girl who was telling that story moments ago. He looked happy. "He's actually smiling." Alex said.

Clarke ignored what Alex said, instead turning to look at Luna and her partner cuddled up against the wall. "Clarke, let it go." Bellamy told her.

She sighed. "We can't just leave."

"Clarke, we don't really have much of a choice." Alex said sadly.

"Well, maybe we do."

"What does that even mean?"

"I'm talking about putting this into her head without asking." Clarke said, holding up the box carrying the Flame.

"Clarke…"

"No way." Octavia whispered. "This isn't like Emerson, he was trying to kill us."

"You think I don't know that?"

"Clarke, we don't have to do this." Bellamy said. "We can fight, we can go back to Arkadia. We arm up."

"Fight who? It's an army of our own people." Clarke said. "I don't like this any more than you do. But if Raven's right, then the code on this thing could stop Alie. Give me a better idea."

Alex, Bellamy, and Octavia all looked at each other. They couldn't come up with one. Alex sighed. "We'll stay here." Bellamy said. "It's the only way they'll leave you alone with her."

"Even Alie gives people a choice." Octavia told Clarke once she moved to stand up.

"We have Luna a choice." Bellamy said. "She said no." Clarke nodded and stood up to find Luna.

After Clarke left, Alex saddled up next to Bellamy, laying his head his shoulder. Bellamy looked at him in amusement. "Clingy type of partner, aren't you?" He refrained from chuckling.

Alex frowned when he couldn't stop the blush that appeared on his face. Bellamy smiled and pulled Alex closer. "Sorry. I've always been a bit clingy. If it bothers you, I'll stop."

Bellamy shook his head. "It's cute."

"Do you think Clarke will do it?"

"I don't know…" Bellamy said. "I hope so."

Alex sighed. "I guess I do too. It just doesn't feel right to force it on someone. It's like…harassment."

Bellamy silently agreed, leaning his head against Alex's and closing his eyes, suddenly feeling the stress and exhaustion hit him like a wave.

Bellamy was suddenly shaken awake by Alex when Clarke came back, ultimately not being successful in putting the Flame in Luna's head. Alex didn't know whether to be relieved or worried.

But like before, they were to prepare to leave. Thankfully, Luna was still kind to them even when Clarke tried to pull that stunt. "Where's Jasper?" Alex asked, as they were walking towards their transportation off the rig.

"Saying goodbye to his new friend." Octavia answered.

"Sorry, Cap. We gotta take them back." Luna said to the same man that gave the group that mysterious liquid that made them pass out. "Your gear." Luna threw it to them. "You get your weapons once you land."

A couple Grounders started to order the group inside.

Suddenly, the Grounders knocked out Luna and restrained her partner, throwing Clarke inside and locking them in the dark. "They took the Flame." Clarke huffed.

"They're locking us in." Alex said, banging on the doors along with Octavia.

"Luna's people are attacking her." Bellamy said. "Alie's here."

"Damn it!" Alex kept punching at the metal doors, only for Bellamy to pull him away. "Damn it…"

"She's gonna put the AI in Luna." Bellamy sighed.

"She'd have to chip her first." Clarke said. "If Luna's chipped before she gets the AI, Alie's gonna know everything. We'll never be able to stop her. We can't let that happen." Clarke started banging on the doors, only for Bellamy to stop her as well.

Octavia sighed. "I'm sorry, Luna."

Hours seemed to pass, they were still stuck in that metal box. Clarke sat by herself. Bellamy and Alex leaned against each other. Octavia trying to cure her boredom by playing around with her flashlight.

"This place was safe until we got here." Octavia broke the silence.

"Alie still would've found this place and you know it." Alex said, making Bellamy elbow him slightly.

Octavia didn't have a chance to respond, as the group heard the doors opening.

They all rushed out to see that same girl from earlier, with an arrow sticking out of her back. Alex quickly kneeled beside her, looking her over to see if she had any chance of being saved. "Machine room…" She coughed out. "P level…"

Alex sighed sadly as the girl fell limp and started to grow cold. She was dead.

"Let's go." Clarke said, and everyone rushed to the place the girl said, making Alex angry that Clarke didn't even try to help either.

Alex got there first, quickly followed by Octavia. He ran in the room to see Jasper tied up, a child, and everyone else besides Luna was dead. Bellamy quickly going to the aid of the child and Alex untying Jasper.

Luna let out a wail as she cradled her lost lover. "I'm so sorry." She kept repeating.

When she was done, they all helped carry out the dead for their people to mourn them. The group stood together as the people gathered to pay respects. "Anyone of them could be chipped and we'd never know." Bellamy voiced.

"If they are, they'll make their move before we put the Flame in Luna." Clarke said.

Alex rolled his eyes at the mention of the Flame as Luna started to walk over. "The ceremony is about to begin." She informed.

"Luna, wait." Clarke said. "I'm so sorry. But now you see what we're facing. An enemy that will do anything to win. She won't stop until she has everyone."

"People I love died today. Needlessly, at my hand. I can't let that happen again." She said and turned to her people. "As we prepare to give our brothers and sister to the sea, we honor their lives." She raised her cup. " **From water we are born, to water we return.** "

The rest of her people raised their cups and repeated the phrase. The small group doing so as well, taking sips of their drink.

"If we're gonna do this, we have to hurry. Alie will send reinforcements. And we have to find someplace private to perform the ascension." Clarke told Luna.

"You believe that to defeat an enemy who will stop at nothing, you must stop at nothing. How is that different than blood must have blood?" Luna said, making Alex feel nervous.

"Wait a second, Luna…" Octavia said, "You can't just…" She trailed off and fell to the floor.

Bellamy suddenly dropped to. "What the fuuuu…?" Alex passed out next.

Alex suddenly bolted up to see that he was back on the beach. "No…"

"Now what?"

~~~~~~~~~~


	42. Perverse Instantiation: Part 1

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

**Bold = Trigedasleng**

~~~~~~~~~~

"Now what?"

Alex sighed at Bellamy's comment, tempted to slam his own head against those stupid rock pillars. "I guess we head back to Arkadia?"

"That's the only thing we can do right now." Alex sighed and started to walk to the rover.

Everyone else gathered the rest of their gear and weapons, quickly following after the boy.

"I really thought Luna would help us…" Alex mumbled, more to himself, but Octavia heard him.

"From everything Lincoln said about her, I thought so too." She frowned.

"I'll drive." Alex said once they finally approached the rover.

"No, that's okay." Bellamy tried to say, but Alex already placed himself in the driver's seat. "Okay then."

Driving helped Alex deal with everything that had happened. It let him focus on something else other than how hopeless he felt after another failure. But it didn't last long because the rover ran out of power.

Alex groaned and slumped his head against the steering wheel. "We'll have to stop and power the rover." Alex announced, putting the rover in park in the snowy field they were currently on.

After everyone helped set up the solar panels on top of the rover, Octavia called out to Alex. " **Alex, time for a Trig lesson**."

Alex groaned for the umpteenth time. "Do I have to?"

" **Sorry, what was that?** "

Alex rolled his eyes and sat down beside Octavia. " **I don't see the point right now.** "

"You're pronouncing wrong. It's **I don't see the point right now.** " She repeated.

 **"I don't see the fucking point.** "

" **Harsh, Neil.** "

Alex ignored her comment and pulled out the journal that Lincoln gave him to help him learn Trigedasleng. He hadn't read it in awhile…

Alex noticed Octavia looked at it with a frown. "I…" He cleared his throat. "I never told you how sorry I am…for what happened."

"…it wasn't your fault…" Her teeth clenched and she shook her head slightly. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Right…sorry."

"Stop apologizing." She scowled.

"Sor- uh, I um…yeah." Alex had to stop himself from saying sorry yet again, but his embarrassment stopped when Octavia chuckled a little.

"You are too good for my brother."

Alex wanted to laugh, but he knew Octavia didn't mean it as a joke. Thankfully, he didn't have to respond because Bellamy called out that the rover was almost charged.

"We need to pack up. We'll be home soon."

"Then what? Run away?" Clarke said.

"We're not running away, Clarke. We need to regroup with the others and find another way to defeat-"

"There is no other way. We need to find a Nightblood." Clarke interrupted Bellamy. "We need to unlock the Flame. It's the only way to stop Alie."

"What do you expect us to do, Clarke?" Jasper asked. "Walk into random villages asking for their Nightbloods?"

"If that's what it takes." Clarke answered, making Alex roll his eyes.

"No, Clarke." Octavia said. "If Alie can find us on Luna's rig, then she can find us anywhere. I won't help you destroy another innocent Grounder village."

"If we don't find a Nightblood, there won't be any Grounder villages. Or a home for us to go back to."

"That's all the more reason we go there and make sure our friends are okay." Alex said.

Clarke looked around desperately, looking to see if anyone would side with her. When she saw nothing of the sort, she nodded bitterly and stormed off.

"She'll be fine. Just let her cool off."

Bellamy sighed and ignored Alex's suggestion, discreetly following Clarke into the woods. Good thing he did, because when the others heard a gunshot they all ran to see that a Grounder had almost taken the Flame from Clarke.

King Roan.

"I'm guessing you did that?" Alex asked Bellamy, pointed at the gunshot wound in Roan's arm.

"We had to make sure he wasn't chipped."

"Uh huh…"

Alex helped the unconscious King into the back of the rover, ordered to keep a gun aimed at him at all times until they returned to Arkadia.

It wasn't long till he woke up, surprisingly not thrashing about to try to escape. Roan glared at Alex the entire ride, making him feel uneasy.

Arriving back at Arkadia, Alex immediately noticed his friend was missing. "Finally!" They heard Raven call out. "We were starting to worry…" Raven frowned when she saw their defeated looks. "Where is she?"

"Luna said no." Octavia said.

"Who the hell is this?" Harper asked when Roan was brought out of the vehicle.

"He's Ice Nation." Bryan glared.

"King of the Ice Nation, actually." Clarke corrected. "And he's our way into Polis."

"I'll take him to lockup." Bellamy said, and ordered Miller and Bryan to help escort him there.

"You wanna use him to get to Ontari?" Raven asked Clarke.

"Yes." Clarke responded.

"What happened to his arm?" Harper asked.

"Bellamy shot him." Alex deadpanned.

"Good luck getting him to cooperate." Monty sighed.

After that conversation was over, Alex walked up to Raven. "Hey, where's Spencer?"

Raven's face quickly turned sour, making Alex nervous.

"What happened? Where is she?" Raven stayed silent. "Raven! Where is Spencer?!"

Raven sighed. "She left."

Alex furrowed his brows. "Left? What do you mean she left?"

"Exactly how it sounds. She fricking left. She thought she could help…Murphy." She huffed.

Alex blood started to boil, balling up his fists until his fingernails dug into his skin. "Of course she did." Alex said and stormed off to his dorm.

"Fuck!" Alex shouted when he finally got his privacy. _As soon as Spencer said she wanted to stay behind, I should've suspected something! Even Bellamy told her to stay put! Dammit!_

Alex started to push up against the wall, trying to put all his strength against it as if he was trying to push the wall down. It did nothing to relieve his anger.

_Dammit! I should've forced her to come with us! She's probably dead now or being controlled by that stupid AI…and it's all my fault. I should've known better…_

Alex let out a sob and lowered himself to the floor, leaning up against the wall. He brought his knees up to his chest and buried his head in them and wrapping his arms around himself.

"Alex?" He looked up to see Bellamy standing in the doorway, a look of concern and confusion written all over his face.

"Spencer's gone, man." Alex cried. "She fucking went to find Murphy."

Bellamy frowned. "She went to Polis…" Bellamy huffed. "Dammit. I told her to stay here."

Alex let out a pitiful whimper and buried his head back into his knees, causing Bellamy to walk over and sit next to him. "God, she's probably dead, Bell…" Alex cried.

Bellamy wrapped an arm around the crying boy. "Spencer…she's a survivor. I really find it hard to believe she's dead."

Alex sniffled. "But…what if she got caught by Alie?"

Bellamy's lip trembled slightly, trying not to think of Spencer being dead. "I don't know, Alex. But…we'll find out soon enough. Roan is gonna get us into Polis, and we'll see."

Alex nodded and cuddled into Bellamy.

"Just stay hopeful, okay?" Bellamy told Alex, reaching up to wipe some stray tears away. "But we have to get ready to leave now. Come on." Bellamy stood up and reached out his hand, offering a small smile.

Alex wiped away the rest of his tears and took Bellamy's hand.

Alex helped Miller load up some equipment into the rover, before Octavia's voice rang out. "What are we waiting for?"

Alex smiled slightly at her impatience, only dropping the smile once he saw the intimidating King. He did not like him one bit, but he knew that they needed him.

"Alex." He turned to see Octavia behind him, holding up a sword. "I think…I want you to have this."

Alex gave her a confused look and chuckled softly. "I don't know how to use a sword, O. I'd probably impale myself." He laughed. "Sorry, but I think I'm better off sticking with guns."

"It was one of Lincoln's."

Alex paled. "…really?"

Octavia nodded once. "It's just going to be wasted if no one uses it. Please…take it."

Alex still was displaying a look of shock, but he carefully reached out and took the hilt of the sword, immediately liking the weight of it. "T-thank you." He stuttered.

"I'll teach you how to use it properly once this is all over. I promise." Octavia said and entered the back of the rover.

Alex stood there in shock, trying to admire and look over every detail embedded into the weapon. He didn't know a deadly weapon could be this beautiful. "Alex, time to go." Bellamy called out, snapping Alex back to reality.

After some time later, Polis finally came into view. "There it is. We stop here." Clarke said and got out of the rover, along with everyone else.

"Alright, this is where we spilt up." King Roan said. "The entrance to the tunnel is right over there."

"We know where it is." Bellamy said.

"I'm gonna need the Flame." Roan told Clarke. "Look, this only works if they send Ontari out to get it. If they don't see it, they won't do that. Not much of a trap without the bait."

Clarke sighed, taking out the box that held the Flame and handed it to the King. "Fine. But I'm coming with you."

"What, Clarke? That wasn't the plan!" Alex said.

"It is now." Clarke said, making Alex and Bellamy sigh. "I'm not letting the Flame out of my sight. And I'm the only one who knows the pass phrase. So you can tell them that without me, Ontari can't ascend."

"You'll need to look like my prisoner." Roan said.

"Okay."

"Wait a second." Bellamy said, turning to Roan. "Give us a minute." Roan stepped away. "Come on, Clarke. You're really willing to trust that guy with your life?"

Clarke looked over to Roan. "No. But you'll be covering us the entire time, and I trust you."

"Bell, we don't really have a choice here." Alex voiced, making Bellamy nod reluctantly. "Hey, she'll be okay." Alex whispered to Bellamy softly once Clarke was out of earshot. "Just stay hopeful, yeah?" Alex smiled.

Soon after, Clarke was made up to look like she was Roan's prisoner and they started heading into Polis, while everyone else went through the tunnels.

"Okay, this way." Bellamy commanded. "This is it. Get these grids open. Let's get ready." Bellamy said, motioning for everyone to load their guns.

"Eleven o'clock." Alex said, looking through the scope of his gun, seeing Clarke and Roan come into view.

"On the signal, he sees Ontari. We wait until she's standing in front of them. And then we launch the gas." Bellamy said.

"They're gonna be holding their breath. So, we gotta move fast." Bryan said.

"Anyone who gets in our way, we use non-lethal force. These people are not the enemy. They're being controlled. The only thing we're here to kill is Alie. Is that clear?" Bellamy explained.

"Clear."

"I am Roan, King of Azgeda." His voice rang out through the silent city. "And I have what the Commander seeks." He finished, holding up the Flame.

Everyone sat in front of the large tower opened their eyes and walked toward the King and Clarke.

"I don't like what I'm sensing. So, if she wants it, she can come to me."

"Oh, crap…" Alex said once more and more of Alie's slaves started surrounding the two. "Jaha?" He wondered aloud once he came into view.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Octavia asked.

"You see Ontari?" Miller asked.

"No. Hold."

Jaha started speaking to them, but Alex couldn't make out what they were saying. "Something's wrong." Bellamy said once he got a look from Clarke.

Suddenly, Roan pulled a knife out and brought it to Clarke's throat.

"Do it! Do it now!" Bellamy ordered, but it was too late.

A bunch of Alie's guards ambushed everyone in the tunnels, taking their weapons and pushing them against the wall.

Alex struggled hard, but all that got him was punches to the face. Bellamy fought to try and help Alex, but that didn't work either. Instead, they all were taken in a hallway where they all were on their knees being watched by former Grounders and Arkadians.

"Let's go. She wants Bellamy." A guard said.

"What?! No!" Alex struggled when they tried picking Bellamy off his feet. "Where are you taking him?" Alex fought, getting himself punched in the gut.

"Leave him alone!" Bellamy yelled. "Alex, it's okay. It's okay."

"You know, if I were you, I'd hit the deck." A familiar voice suddenly rung out.

"Murphy?" Bellamy asked. "Everyone hit the ground!"

As soon as everyone ducked, multiple shots rung out, killing their captors. "Fancy meeting you here." Murphy smirked.

It was Murphy, Pike, and Indra.

"More will come, we have to hurry." Indra said.

Murphy sighed once he saw Alex, but shook off the feeling of bitterness. "You've looked better." Murphy said as he offered his hand.

Alex glanced at his hand for a moment before taking it. "Is…is Spencer with you?" He asked nervously.

Murphy froze and looked away. "She's alive. But she's with Alie now…"

Alex quickly teared up. "This is your fault." He glared.

Murphy furrowed his brows, suddenly becoming speechless.

"You're with Pike?" Octavia's voice rung out, making Alex turn to see her.

"Only way we get out of here is together." Indra said.

"He killed Lincoln." Alex said, making Indra snap her head over to him.

"Pike put him on his knees. Shot him in the head." Octavia said.

"O. Indra's right. We need every fighter we can get." Bellamy said.

"We don't need him, Bellamy." Alex hissed.

"Did you miss the part where it's time to go?" Murphy voiced.

"We're not leaving." Bellamy said.

Murphy smirked. "We just saved your lives. Why do I think I'm gonna regret that?"

"Clarke is in trouble."

"Clarke's always in trouble."

"They took her and the Flame to the tower. It's a safe bet Ontari's there too. Everything we need to stop Alie is in the same place."

"Bell, if we go up that tower, we won't be able to fight our way out again." Octavia said.

"If we stop Alie, we won't have to." Alex said, making Murphy roll his eyes.

"Up the tower…great." Murphy said. "You know after this, doing the right thing can kiss my ass."

"What a surprise." Alex huffed.

Everyone gathered at the end of the hall, peeking around the corner to see two guards. Pike walked down and immediately shot them once they looked his way.

"Hey! I told you, that is not how we're doing this!" Bellamy fussed.

"There were in our way." Pike said, making Alex's blood boil.

Alex stopped Pike in his tracks, putting a firm hand on his chest. "These people are not our enemy. They're being controlled by Alie and we can save them. You can't just go around killing them just like you did with the Grounders." Alex glared.

"You better watch yourself, boy." Pike glared right back.

"Oh yeah? You're not dictator anymore and if we didn't need you right now, I'd kill you where you stand."

"Alex! Come on." Bellamy said.

"Guys, there's gonna be a lot more of these people if we don't stop bickering and move. Let's do this." Miller said, making Alex finally step away from Pike.

"I'll bring the elevator down." Indra said.

"Once we're up, you blow the elevator and then climb." Bellamy ordered.

"Come one, you do realize we don't have a way down right?" Murphy said.

"A problem for another day." Alex said.

"Let's go. Our ride's here." Bellamy said, causing Alex and Murphy to enter the elevator. "You coming, O?"

"If anything goes wrong down here, they'll need my help." Octavia said.

"Be careful, O." Alex said.

"We got this." She replied and closed the doors.

Soon, the trio started to feel the elevator move. "You get that we're screwed, right?" Murphy broke the silence, besides the grinding gears of the elevator. "Alie already knows that we're coming."

"This plan will work. It has to." Alex said, making Murphy roll his eyes once again. "Why are you even here, man?"

"I'm just trying to survive." Murphy said, glaring when he knew that Alex saw through his bullshit. "You're not the only one here trying to save someone you care about."

Alex smiled slightly and looked forward again.

"Dick…" Murphy whispered under his breath.

Suddenly, the elevator shook violently. "Well, that doesn't feel good."

The doors started be pried open, making the trio ready themselves for whoever enters. "Alex, get the baton ready!" Bellamy ordered, trying to keep the doors closed. "Shock him!"

Alex quickly lit up the shock baton and shocked the man at the front trying to enter, only for another to take his place. Alex shocked him as well.

Bellamy was trying to get pulled out of the elevator, and Murphy finally joined in and helped kick them all out of the way and tried to help Bellamy and Alex close the doors.

"Come on!"

A man managed to get into the elevator, tackling Alex and punching him in the face and suddenly started to choke him.

As soon as the doors closed and the elevator started to move again, Murphy tackled the man off of Alex, finally allowing him to breathe. The man started to attack Murphy, pushing him off against the wall and punching him as well. "Shoot him! Shoot him, Bellamy!" Murphy called out.

A shot rang out, and the bullet went through the man's head.

Murphy looked up to see Alex holding the pistol. Bellamy quickly offered his hand to Murphy and pulled him up. "…thank you." Murphy said reluctantly.

Alex sighed, his hand shaking slightly. "Don't mention it."

Finally, the elevator made it to the top of the tower. "It's time. Come on." Bellamy said.

Quickly and quietly, the trio boosted themselves up and out of the elevator, hiding on top so that the guards couldn't find them. As soon as the elevator doors opened and the guards came inside to look for them, Bellamy dropped the gas grenade in. Knocking them out successfully.

Alex, Murphy, and Bellamy all were wearing their gas masks. "Throne room's this way." Murphy said, slightly muffled due to the mask.

The throne room doors opened and they saw Clarke tied up and wounded, Jaha looming above an unconscious Ontari with a gaping wound in her head, and Abby hanging from a noose.

Bellamy was told by Clarke to stop Jaha and he quickly shot him, while Alex and Murphy quickly went to Abby.

Alex held Abby up by her feet while Murphy untied the noose, Abby and Alex falling to the floor. "Is she alive? Is she breathing?" Clarke asked frantically.

"She's breathing." Alex called out happily.

"Jaha has the Flame." Clarke said and quickly went to the Azgeda girl. "We can't let Ontari die. We have to stop the bleeding."

"I got the Flame." Bellamy called out, Alex and Murphy kneeling by Ontari.

"Her pulse is weak." Clarke informed.

"At least she's alive."

"Here." Clarke handed Alex a cloth. "Hold this to the wound."

"Come on, what are you gonna do?" Murphy asked.

"I need a flashlight."

"First we take out the chip. Then we put in the Flame." Bellamy said.

Clarke took out a flashlight and opened Ontari's eyelids. "Her pupils are unresponsive." She said and leaned back with a defeated look on her face.

"Clarke, what does that mean?"

"She's brain dead." Clarke cried. "She can't give us the kill code…it's over."

"We're trapped here."

~~~~~~~~~~


	43. Perverse Instantiation: Part 2

_Italics = Character's thoughts_

~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone cleared themselves out of the room to make sure the area was clear, leaving Clarke in the throne room with her unconscious mother. But when they came back, Bellamy quickly pointed his gun at Abby when he saw she was awake. "Hey, no. It's okay! I used the EMP. She's back." Clarke said.

"Well, what about Ontari?" Murphy asked. "Thought you said we had one shot with that thing."

"I told you, Ontari's no longer an option for the Flame. She's brain dead." She said and looked to Bellamy and Alex. "Is the floor secure?"

"Yeah, for now. We tied up Jaha and the guards in a bedroom." Alex said.

"We took out the elevator and the ladder as we climbed." Pike said. "The stairs are collapsed. No one's following us."

"Good. Then we have time." Clarke said.

"What we don't have is a way down." Murphy said.

"Wait, time for what?" Bellamy asked.

"An ascension ceremony." Clarke said, making everyone confused.

"Ascension?" Alex asked. "You just said Ontari wasn't an option. Besides, she's still chipped and we don't have the EMP anymore."

"We're not putting the Flame in Ontari's head. We're putting it in mine."

"Clarke, that thing killed Emerson in seconds, liquefied his brain." Bellamy said.

"Emerson wasn't connected to a Nightblood."

"Wait, you're saying you wanna become a Natblida?" Alex asked.

"Not exactly."

"Connected like Mount Weather." Abby voiced, making Alex feel nervous.

"Yes. Everything we need is in your med kit."

"No. It's too dangerous, and there are too many variables."

"But we don't have any other options. Do we?" Alex voiced softly.

Octavia suddenly ran into the room, a slightly panicked expression on her face. "Whatever you're doing, you better do it fast."

"Why? What happened?" Bellamy asked.

"They're climbing."

Knowing that they destroyed the ladder and elevator, Alex and the rest of the group quickly ran onto the balcony and looked down.

_Octavia was right._

_Alie's slaves are climbing the tower._

"Crap…we better fix this." Alex said.

"We could grease up the balconies, so that it's harder for them to come through." Pike suggested.

"Good idea..." Alex mumbled, upset that he actually agreed with Pike.

"Well then, let's get to it son."

"Don't you call me fucking son." Alex hissed, Bellamy having to put a hand on his shoulder to keep Alex getting in Pike's face.

"Alex, Alex, come here." Bellamy said and brought Alex to a corner of the room by his wrist. "What's up with you, huh?"

Alex almost laughed. "To think you wouldn't know…"

Bellamy's face settled into a slight glare and sighed. "Alex, if we're gonna do this right, we've gotta keep a level head. We can't have you killing someone in a rage."

"I wouldn't kill just someone. I'd kill that bastard."

Bellamy pinched the bridge of his nose and ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated. "Look, Alex, please. We need everyone we can get. This isn't the time to seek revenge."

Alex rolled his eyes, but nodded. "You're right. Sorry." He sighed.

Bellamy gave a slight smile and chuckled breathlessly. "You are a stubborn one." He joked, bringing his lips to Alex's.

"Hey!" The couple heard. "More work, less PDA." They saw Octavia's annoyed face looking toward them.

The couple awkwardly parted ways, Alex going back to help Pike grease up the balcony. "Back I see?" Pike said.

"Don't fucking talk to me."

Pike sighed. "I know you hate me, but we have to work together to defeat this thing."

Alex bit his lip hard, doing everything in his power to not push the man off the building. "…I know." He grit his teeth. "Let's just get this done."

After working hard not to kill Pike and greasing all the balconies, the group finally came back to the throne room, seeing Clarke hooked up to wires. "Balcony's greased. No one's getting through here." Pike told Bellamy.

"Good. There was enough lamp oil to cover every window on the floor except the Commander's chambers."

"That's where the fighting starts." Alex sighed. "We'll dig in there."

Pike, Octavia, Bryan, and Miller made their way out of the room, but Bellamy stopped Alex before he started walking away. "Be careful."

Alex nodded, giving Bellamy a soft smile.

Alex walked into the Commander's chambers. Octavia was sharpening her sword, Pike was looking out the window, and Bryan was laying on the couch. "Is he okay?" Alex asked Miller.

"He's burning up."

"I'm fine." Bryan voiced.

Pike walked over and placed his hand on Bryan's forehead. "The wound is infected."

Alex sighed. "There's no way he can fight." He turned to Miller. "You better take him to Abby."

Miller nodded and helped Bryan up. "I'll come right back."

"I'm not letting you fight alone." Bryan said.

"He won't be alone." Octavia said lowly, still sharpening her sword.

Miller sighed. "Alex will be here too, okay? Come on."

Pike turned to Octavia. "I told Alex before. If we're gonna survive this, we'll need to stand together."

"Now you say that."

Alex smirked slightly and went to the window, to see Alie's slaves almost to the top. "That was fast. They're here." Alex called out.

Octavia quickly got up and stood beside Alex and Pike. "The first wave is small. We do this Bellamy's way."

"We let them in. We take them down. We tie them up. Clear?" Pike finished.

Octavia nodded.

Alex looked to his gun, thinking about using it to defend. But instead, Alex readied his sword, Lincoln's sword, and held it up defensively, ready to knock out Alie's people.

Suddenly, Alex heard Pike cry out and fall to the floor, the back of his leg cut open. Alex looked to see Octavia's sword bloody. "Octavia!" Alex scolded.

Pike was quickly beaten by the climbers, but Alex quickly stormed over to help him. Octavia tried to stop him from going to Pike's aid, but he quickly shook her off. Alex soon got a few good punches to the gut, the climbers feeling no pain really didn't help them get any advantages.

"'Tavia, help us!" Alex called out breathlessly, only for her to stand still, watching Pike get pummeled.

"O, what are you doing?" Bellamy yelled out and quickly ran to Alex and Pike's aid, holding up his gun.

"Bellamy, no!" Octavia shouted, trying to keep her brother back.

Bellamy quickly shot the chipped man who was punching Alex first, then the others, Pike breaking a chipped person's neck. "Are you okay?" Bellamy looked to Alex first. When Alex nodded, Bellamy went to help Pike.

"She cut me." Pike groaned.

More chipped people started coming in through the window. "Come on, we got to go!" Alex said, quickly helping Bellamy drag Pike out of the room.

But before they left, Alex saw who was coming through the window.

"Spencer?" Alex whispered, his voice wavered.

"Alex, come on!" Bellamy pulled him by his arm, flinching when he saw Spencer and Kane.

As soon as they left the room, Bellamy and Alex started blockading the doors. "I told you, you need to get yourself under control if we're gonna survive this!" Pike fussed at Octavia.

"Help us!" Bellamy called out, Pike and Octavia quickly helping the couple block the doors.

Octavia banged her head against the blockade in frustration. "O, listen to me." Bellamy started. "I know how you feel. I let my need for revenge put me on the wrong side. I don't want that for you."

Bellamy's heartfelt speech came to an end as soon as Alie's people started to slam against the doors, causing the small group to jolt every time they hit the doors.

"You keep it closed. I'll get more for the blockade." Octavia said.

"Alex, help her." Bellamy ordered.

Alex nodded hesitantly, but ran off with Octavia anyway.

"You would've let them kill me just so you could get your revenge." Alex huffed, still running beside her.

"Now's not the time." Octavia shouted.

"We need more help." Alex said. "I'll go find Miller."

Octavia nodded, grabbing pieces of furniture and making her way back to her brother and Pike. "Where's Alex?" Bellamy asked.

"Getting help." She answered.

Soon, Alex came back with Miller and Bryan, carrying more furniture for the blockade. They piled up chairs, couches, lamps, anything they could find to block Alie from getting in. But it was becoming more difficult, they just wouldn't let up.

"This isn't gonna hold for long!" Bryan called out.

"We're gonna make it hold!" Alex shouted.

"How the hell did they even get in here?!" Miller asked.

"Doesn't matter." Bellamy said. "This is where we make our stand."

"Sounds like there's a lot of them. Maybe it's time to go to guns."

"No!" Alex quickly yelled. He was not going to let his friend die, or Kane.

"We got something better than guns." Pike voiced. "Surprise."

Every one looked at each other confused. "What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"I have a plan. We let them in. Lead them to the hallway where water will be. We have those shock batons."

"It won't kill them?"

"It'll stun them. That's exactly what we need."

Bellamy ordered for them to follow Pike's plan, leading everyone to the hall and quickly flooding the place with water. It didn't take long for Alie's people to break through.

"Wait, Kane." Octavia held her hands up and said as soon as they rounded the corner. "Wait. I give up. I'll take the chip."

Kane led the way, Spencer, Jackson, and Emori quickly behind. "Good. No one else has to die ever. Maybe you can convince your mentor of that." Kane said.

"Indra's alive?"

"Yes…on the cross suffering needlessly."

"Now!" Octavia's voice quickly rung out, causing everyone to jump out of their hiding spots. She quickly hopped out of the water and the group threw their shock batons in the water, not giving Alie's slaves any time to realize what was happening.

Alex looked on sadly at seeing his friend go down. "I'm sorry, Spencer…"

"The charge is clear." Bellamy called out.

"Hurry up. Let's get their weapons." Pike ordered.

Alex went to Spencer first, her body still jerking from the electricity flowing through her. Bellamy put a hand on Alex's shoulder. "We'll get her back. I promise."

Alex nodded, taking away any weapons Spencer might've been carrying.

"Okay, we got them all. Let's go." Bellamy said. "To the throne room!"

The group rushed back to the throne room where Clarke was still unconscious. They quickly barricaded the doors. "This is it! We need to keep Clarke safe, give her time. They're unarmed, but they won't feel pain, and they won't stop until they're out cold." Bellamy said.

"Copy that. Go for the knock out." Miller said.

Alex looked back at Murphy, who was pumping Ontari's heart. Literally. "I saw Spencer…" He mumbled just loud enough for Murphy to hear.

Murphy closed his eyes, ignoring Alex and focusing on keeping Clarke alive.

Abby loaded her gun, making Bellamy lift an eyebrow up at her. "Only if they get past you." Abby answered Bellamy's silent question.

Bellamy nodded, turning back to the doors that were almost broken into. "We got this." Bellamy looked to Alex, smiling slightly.

Alex nodded nervously, not looking forward to might having to kill his best friend.

The doors quickly got broken through, some Grounders coming in first. "Here we go!" Bellamy voiced.

Everyone quickly starting fighting Alie's slaves, making sure not to kill them, just knock them out. But they were strong, despite not having weapons.

Alex made sure to stick by Bellamy and Octavia, watching their backs. He managed to knock a few people out, saving Bellamy a couple times for a surprise attack.

Then in came Spencer.

Then Kane, him quickly taking down Bellamy.

Alex hesitated for one moment, that's all she needed to get the drop on him.

Spencer punched Alex in the stomach, him doubling over and coughing violently. "Spencer!" Alex called out. "This isn't you!" He tried to reach her.

Spencer's face was devoid of any emotion, and kicked Alex to the floor.

From the floor, Alex looked around. Seeing all of his friends getting beaten. Every thing seemed like it was in slow motion. Bellamy was getting choked to death by Kane.

Alex tried getting up, but was held down by Spencer, who was now choking him as well. Alex tried to speak, but all that came out was a gasp. Alex started to tear up. He tried clawing at Spencer's hands, trying to get her to let go, but she wouldn't.

Alex let out a sob and quickly flipped Spencer over, him now holding her down.

A shot rung out, Abby had shot a chipped Grounder, killing him.

Alex looked back down at Spencer, her face now contorted in anger and struggle.

Alex felt the tears running down his face, but put his hands around Spencer's throat.

Murphy saw this from where he was, still pumping Ontari's heart. But he stopped, and started to run over to Alex to stop him from killing her, but Emori suddenly got in his way.

Alex started sobbing when Spencer's face started turning red from lack of oxygen, but she still tried to put up a fight. "Please…" Alex cried, his heart aching. "Don't make me do this…"

Almost as soon as Spencer almost passed out, Alex heard the fighting suddenly stop. He looked around, everyone who was chipped was now doubled over in pain, some groaning and shouting in pain.

Kane had finally released Bellamy, falling back in shock and horror of what he was doing.

Alex quickly took his hands off of Spencer, her now coughing violently. "Spencer?" Alex stuttered.

Spencer sat up, groaning in pain. Looking around to see her surroundings, she remembered everything. She felt pain all over her body. The palms of her hands were scratched up and slightly bloody from climbing up the tower. She felt the painful bruises already forming on her neck, but she tried to ignore it all.

Spencer looked to Alex, who's eyes were burning with tears. She quickly hugged him. "I'm so sorry." She croaked out. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. Shh, shh, shh. You're okay now." Alex whispered, not entirely sure if it was to her or himself. _I almost just killed my best friend..._ He hugged her back tightly. 

"Alex…" Bellamy's rough voice called out, causing Alex to loosen his grip on his friend. 

Alex turned around and saw Bellamy kneeling beside him. "You're okay." Alex smiled and brought him into a hug.

Bellamy sighed in relief, kissing the side of Alex's head. He looked at Spencer and smiled, bringing her into the hug too. "I'm sorry, Bellamy." Spencer whispered, tears still trailing down her face.

"Hey, none of that. You're back now, and that's what matters."

Spencer wiped away some tears, and looked around the room. Seeing Murphy and Emori embracing.

She remembered what she told him while under the influence of Alie. She never wanted to tell him those things, at least, not against her will.

Murphy pulled away from Emori and caught Spencer's gaze. He gave her a small smile, relieved that Alex hadn't killed her. 

Everyone quickly turned in the direction where Pike suddenly groaned and the sound of his flesh being torn open violently. 

They all saw Octavia's sword in Pike's stomach, soon being pushed through his entire torso. She removed her sword, Pike falling to the floor. Octavia kept her eyes on him the whole time, watching the life drain from his eyes.

When Pike exhaled his last breath, Octavia walked out of the throne room, her face wearing no emotion. Bellamy's eyes watched her sadly.

Alex on the other hand, let out a giant smile. "Good fucking riddance."

Spencer could've rolled her eyes at that comment, if she wasn't sort of relieved he was dead too.

Spencer watched as Murphy walked out of the room too, taking a right down the hallway. She sighed, she knew she shouldn't follow him, but she wanted to talk to him.

Alex was confused when Spencer got up and walked out, but tried not to think anything of it. Instead, he walked up to Bellamy. "Are you okay?" He asked.

Bellamy sighed and chuckled bitterly. "No."

Alex frowned, bringing him into another hug. "Octavia will be okay."

"Will she?"

"…I hope so."

Murphy walked out of the throne room, his hands shaking slightly. He still had Ontari's black blood covering his hands. He felt bad leaving Emori alone after she had just come back, but he felt like he was suffocating in that place.

He found a remaining bucket of water that Bellamy's group used to shock the formerly chipped people. It wasn't much, but it would do.

"Murphy?"

He looked behind him to see Spencer. She looked as horrible at the rest of the former chipped people did. The bruises on her neck in the shape of hand prints is what he noticed the most, finding it difficult to tear his gaze away from her.

Spencer realized what Murphy was looking at. "I'm okay. Just some little bruises." She tried to brush off, even though they hurt like hell and made her voice rough.

Murphy didn't look convinced, but nodded anyway.

"It was a good thing you did…helping Clarke."

Murphy smirked slightly. "I've heard."

Spencer looked down at his hands, stained with dark blood. They were shaking.

Murphy flinched slightly when Spencer took a step towards him. "Your hands…"

Murphy sighed. "Yeah, happens when you stick them into a dead girl's chest."

Spencer walked up to Murphy cautiously, kneeling down next to the bucket of water. She looked up to him, reaching out and gently bringing him down beside her.

Spencer placed Murphy's hands above the water, gently running the water over his hands, her hands burning slightly from her own injuries. But both her blood and Ontari's were slowly coming off.

"Why are you doing this?" Murphy asked.

Spencer smiled. "You've done it for me twice now. I'm just returning the favor."

"Even after…all the things I said to you?"

Spencer froze for a moment before continuing to wash Murphy's hands. "You were angry. You had every right to be."

Murphy frowned. "No…" He whispered. "What you said before…when you were chipped. Was all that true?"

Spencer sighed internally. "…yes."

"So, you did try to get me out. Tried to stay at those doors until you couldn't anymore. And I punished you for it." Murphy huffed, scolding himself.

"Murphy, you didn't know. You couldn't have known."

"I didn't even give you a chance to explain. I ended what we had for no reason."

"What's done is done…" Spencer said.

"I'm sorry, Spencer."

Spencer looked at Murphy, he had tears flowing down his face. She brought her hand up and gently wiped his tears away. "It's okay. At least we're both still alive, huh?" She chuckled.

After Spencer finished cleaning the blood off Murphy's hands, he brought her into a tight hug. Surprised at first, but she soon relaxed, putting her arms around him.

Spencer was the first to pull away, the urge to kiss him was too strong. "You should, uh, go back to Emori. She's probably wondering where you are."

Murphy stayed silent, looking into Spencer's eyes longingly.

"I can tell she's good for you..."

"Spence…"

"Go…please."

Murphy nodded weakly, reluctantly backing away before turning around completely and heading back to the throne room.

As soon as Murphy left her, Spencer slumped to the floor, tears starting to blur her vision.

She was alive, but now she has to deal with the man she loves being with somebody else.

~~~~~~~~~~

**That's it for season 3👏👏👏.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to let the fans of this story know, it's probably gonna be a century until I even start writing for this again, since cancelling my Netflix and all. So, sorry :/. Thanks for reading


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